Kathleen Kennedy: Last News

Disney+ confirmed its cast for the upcoming new Lucasfilm Star Wars series, The Acolyte. The Hate U Give actress Amandla Stenberg was already announced for the show, and Deadline told you first about Squid Game Emmy Award-winner Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto and Queen & Slim‘s Jodie Turner-Smith.

Newly crowned Warner Bros Film Group Co-Chairpersons and CEOs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy will receive The Producers Guild of America’s 2023 Milestone Award.

American Cinema Editors has announced it will honor The Woman King director Gina Prince-Bythewood with its ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award at the 73rd annual ACE Eddie Awards, taking place within UCLA’s Royce Hall on March 5, 2023.

The Hollywood Commission is launching its second Entertainment Survey with the goal of giving voice to entertainment industry workers.

Hollywood powerbrokers past and present officially said goodbye to one of their own Sunday.

Jon Burlingame editor Writing new music for the “Star Wars” universe would be daunting for any composer, considering its iconic scores by the legendary John Williams. Luckily for “Andor” composer Nicholas Britell, writer-producer Tony Gilroy and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy gave him “total freedom” to imagine a new, totally unique soundscape for the backstory of Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), the rebel spy first encountered in the 2016 film “Rogue One.” So, unlike “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” the “Star Wars” series for which Williams wrote a new theme earlier this year, there isn’t a note of Williams music in “Andor,” which launched a 12-episode run last Wednesday on Disney+.

John Boyega is dishing the British royal tea! The 30-year-old staple appeared on Thursday's and was asked by fans who was cooler on the set of — Prince William or Prince Harry. «I definitely think it was Harry. Harry is just more casual, isn't he?» Boyega said of the 38-year-old Duke of Sussex. The royal brothers visited the set in 2016 and even filmed a cameo as Storm Troopers, which was eventually cut from the final film. «I don't know why. Maybe the royal family were like, 'Nah, leave them out of the universe,'» Boyega speculated of the cut footage. «But we never would have known,» host Cohen argued. «There's something about royalty,» Boyega joked in an affected posh accent.

The cast of the new Star Wars series Andor stepped out in L.A. for a premiere event!

according to the Wrap.“Rouge Squadron” had previously been delayed due to scheduling conflicts with Jenkins. The film was announced back in December of 2020 by Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy, during Disney Investor Day.“Rogue Squadron” was set to “introduce a new generation of ‘Star Wars’ pilots as they earn their wings and risk their lives in a boundary-pushing high-speed thrill ride,” according to Kennedy.

Harrison Ford has confirmed Indiana Jones 5 will be his last film in the franchise.The actor appeared during a presentation at Disney’s D23 Expo on Saturday (September 10) to share the trailer from the upcoming film, where he shared the stage with Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy, director James Mangold (Logan) and cast member Phoebe Waller-Bridge.Speaking about the film, Ford, who appeared emotional following the trailer, said: “I’m very proud to say that this one is fantastic, and this is one of the reasons,” before pointing to Waller-Bridge.“Indiana Jones movies are about mystery and adventure, but they’re also about heart, and I’m really, really happy that we have a really human story to tell, as well as a movie that will kick your ass.”Harrison Ford getting emotional talking about this Indiana Jones movie. “This one kicks ass!” #D23Expo pic.twitter.com/uvbwTxzcxd— DisneyExaminer is at #D23Expo (@DisneyExaminer) September 10, 2022Harrison Ford & Phoebe Waller-Bridge received a standing ovation as they join director James Mangold on stage at #D23Expo pic.twitter.com/uUZZPOx7yf— Indiana Jones (@IndianaJones) September 10, 2022Ford later stated this would be his final outing as the character, adding: “This is it! I will not fall down for you again.”Indiana Jones 5 is the first instalment not to be directed by Steven Spielberg, who serves as a producer.

EXCLUSIVE: The eve of his potential historic night at the Emmys, Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae looks to have found his first major studio role following that breakout in a property more popular then the Netflix global phenomenon.

reported Empire Magazine. “It’s just at this point a matter of schedule and when it can happen. I’ve stayed close to Kathleen [Kennedy] and we get together often and talk about it,” Johnson told the publication, referring to the Lucasfilm president. “It would break my heart if I were finished, if I couldn’t get back in that sandbox at some point.”Johnson’s trilogy was announced in 2017 after his “Star Wars” directorial debut and had promised to feature “new characters from a corner of the galaxy that ‘Star Wars’ lore has never before explored,” according to IndieWire, which added that a parallel tagline was echoed by “Thor: Love and Thunder” director Taika Waititi — who is slated to have a “Star Wars” film in 2025.Johnson’s comments track with those made by Kennedy at the Star Wars Celebration earlier this year.

Tony Gilroy didn’t want to make a prequel to “Rogue One.” The 2016 “Star Wars” feature, which Gilroy co-wrote, is itself a prequel, detailing how a ragged crew of rebels, led by spy Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), steal the plans to the Death Star. They succeed, but (spoiler alert!) they all sacrifice their lives doing so — an uncharacteristically dour ending for a “Star Wars” endeavor. The production was also infamously troubled, with Gilroy, who wrote four “Bourne” movies and directed “Michael Clayton,” stepping in to helm extensive reshoots in place of director Gareth Edwards. When the result was a massive hit, grossing just over $1 billion worldwide, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy was eager do more “Star Wars” movies with Gilroy.

has come to a satisfying close on Disney+. Yet the question remains, will the series return for more seasons, especially after Ewan McGregor, who reprised his role as the titular Jedi Master opposite Hayden Christensen as his former mentee-turned-Sith Lord, previously expressed interest in telling more of Kenobi’s story? According to director Deborah Chow, who helmed all six episodes, was designed as a one-off event.

Don’t expect director Taika Waititi’s planned Star Wars film to be about Chewbacca’s grandmother.

Zack Sharf Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy wasn’t joking when she told Total Film magazine last month that “Star Wars” will need “to create a whole new saga” in order to return to the big screen and not just rely on threads from the past. That’s exactly what Taika Waititi wants to do with his upcoming “Star Wars” movie, which will be the franchise’s first movie since the Skywalker saga came to a controversial end with “The Rise of Skywalker.”Waititi recently told Total Film that he’s not interested in making a movie with pre-existing characters and story threads (think “Rogue One” which connects directly to “A New Hope” through the Death Star ) or telling origin stories (think Ron Howard’s polarizing Han Solo prequel “Solo”).

Amy Schumer, Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo have joined more than 200 US actors, directors, producers and writers in signing an open letter calling for a change to gun portrayal in Hollywood films and TV shows.This year has already seen over 250 mass shootings in the US, with recent events in Buffalo and Uvalde provoking further debate in a country where more than 40,000 people are shot and killed with guns every year.The newly published letter from the Brady Center To Prevent Gun Violence – also signed by Shonda Rhimes, J.J. Abrams, Kathleen Kennedy, Judd Apatow, and Jimmy Kimmel, among others – attributes the problem to “lax gun laws” and politicians “more afraid of losing power than saving lives”, but notes that representations in film and TV can play a part.It's up to us to make sure senators #DontLookAway from our country's gun violence crisis.

“Welcome to the 48th, 49th, and 50th AFI Life Achievement Awards,”  American Film Institute President and CEO Bob Gazzale stated as he began his welcoming remarks for Thursday night’s long awaited and long pandemic- delayed tribute to Julie Andrews, the 2022 honoree at a ceremony originally  set to take place in the spring of 2020 that now finally happened with all style and warmth so familiar to these AFI evenings ever since AFI founder George Stevens Jr. came up with the idea in 1973 when director John Ford was the first honoree (Stevens, now 90, was there and acknowledged from the stage last night). Since then there has never been a “gap” between cereomonies but now there is between 2019 honoree Denzel Washington and Andrews, but it was well worth the wait, and congratulations to the AFI, Board Trustees Chairs Kathleen Kennedy and Bob Daly as well as Gazzale (who is also Executive Producer of the show which will air on TNT June 16 at 10pm) for not letting Covid diminish the event, even if it had to come a little later than usual,and every member of the audience at the Dolby Theatre (transformed into a banquet setting for the elegant dinner) had to take a PCR test at least 48 hours before entering the building. Other than that it was just like old times and you could tell the industry crowd was thrilled to be there for a genuine show business legend. The only sad part was that Andrews’ The Sound Of Music co-star Christopher Plummer was not there. The Oscar winning actor had actually been set to appear at the tribute when it was originally to take place before the pandemic had other ideas. He died in Feburary of last year at age 91.

Steven Spielberg originally wanted to feature his favorite candy. But it wasn't Reese's Pieces. To celebrate the iconic film’s 40th anniversary, ET is looking back at one of its most famous behind-the-scenes stories.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorCharlize Theron is lining up another star-studded benefit for her Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project.I can exclusively report that her guest list for the 2022 Block Party on June 11 will include Theron’s “Snow White and the Huntsman” co-star Kristen Stewart, Cara Delevingne, Patty Jenkins, Seth MacFarlane, Mary McCormack, David Oyelowo, June Diane Raphael, Paul Sheer, Lauren Conrad, Sofia Boutella, Jordana Brewster, Alycia Pascual-Pena and Lilly Singh.The festivities, taking place on the Universal backlot, will include a screening of “Jurassic World Dominion” following a Q&A with the film’s director Colin Trevorrow and stars Bryce Dallas Howard, DeWanda Wise, Jeff Goldblum and Mamoudou Athie and writer Emily Carmichael.

Toby Emmerich’s exit as chairman of the Warner Bros. Pictures group, and the ascension of former MGM film leaders Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, are just the latest instances of upheaval in what is already shaping up to be a tempestuous new era at the studio behind Harry Potter and Batman.Emmerich’s ouster has been gossiped about for years, dating back well before the company was sold to Discovery. Still, his decision to leave for a production deal stunned executives on the studio’s Burbank lot, many of whom had worked with Emmerich for decades.