Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy is assuring fans that the “Star Wars” franchise will be more inclusive behind the camera when it comes to future instalments.
Every “Star Wars” film — from George Lucas’ original trilogy to spinoffs, including “Rogue One” and the most recent trilogy — has been helmed by white, male filmmakers. In recent years, Kennedy has faced increasing pressure to diversify the talent pool of directors.
While attending the BAFTAs in London on Sunday where she was honoured with the BAFTA Fellowship Award (the organization’s version of a lifetime achievement award), Kennedy was quizzed as to whether a woman would helm a feature “Star Wars” movie in the future.
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“Oh, absolutely,” she responds. “Without a question.”
The Disney+ series “The Mandalorian” recently tapped Bryce Dallas Howard to direct an episode, as well as Deborah Chow, who will also helm the now-paused Obi-Wan Kenobi series with Ewan McGregor. The recent “Rise Of Skywalker” made franchise history by having Victoria Mahoney as second-unit director for the final film in the Skywalker saga.
“We’ve already got [women directors],” Kennedy told media at the BAFTAs. “On ‘The Mandalorian’ we’ve got two or three fantastic women working with ‘Star Wars’. And we just brought in Deborah Chow who is doing the Obi-Wan series. We’re cultivating a lot of great talent.”
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The Obi-Wan series remains on hold following reports Kennedy was unhappy with the scripts for the six-episode series, causing a delay in production.
There is currently no feature “Star Wars” film in the works.
