Topics: Artificial Intelligence, Star Wars, Disney, Technology, Film and TV, Hollywood
Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has broken down why she's 'really excited' by the use of AI in movies - with one caveat.
The American film producer has headed up the George Lucas-founded giant since 2012.
Her first ever movie production credit was on Steven Spielberg's E.T., with the pair reuniting again in 1993 for the Jurassic Park franchise.
Kennedy then joined Lucasfilm in 2012, initially as co-chair alongside Lucas just before Disney acquired the studio that same year for about $4.05 billion.
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During her reign, she's led the Star Wars sequel trilogy and standalone films like Rogue One and Solo and has overseen a major expansion into TV with hits such as The Mandalorian and Andor on Disney+.
After 14 years, she's handing the company over to Chief Creative Officer Dave Filoni and Executive Vice President Lynwen Brennan.
In a tell-all interview with Deadline, the 72-year-old explained why she's leaving the role and what she's working on next.
She also weighed in on a massively divisive topic; the growing use of AI in the movie industry.
Kennedy said she'd been talking about her transition out of the company 'for two years.'
"I went to Bob and Alan to figure out what the transition plan would be and I made the recommendation that it be Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan, the latter of whom has been running the business alongside me," she explained.
Kennedy then went on to explain she was 'very interested' in the 'new technology' emerging - meaning AI.
While AI promises faster and more ambitious creative tools, industry experts across the board fear their work is being used without consent, and that ultimately the technology could undermine jobs, pay and ownership in creative industries.
Kennedy, however, described the movement as 'really exciting,' though warned AI's use needs to be safeguarded.
"I am interested in exploring using those tools in responsible ways, and working out the complications around trying to figure out what we’re going to do in terms of protecting artists’ rights," she clarified. "That is vitally important."
"But at the same time, there’s nothing more exciting than having new tools that can expand on what you’re capable of doing in terms of creating visual language around stories," she added.
Drawing on her decades in Hollywood, Kennedy suggested the current moment feels familiar.
She compared AI’s potential to the technological leap that led to Jurassic Park, recalling earlier breakthroughs at Industrial Light & Magic.
This includes what she described as the first-ever CG shot in a film, created for 1985's Young Sherlock Holmes.
“It was absolutely thrilling,” she said, adding that years of experimentation and research followed before CGI reshaped blockbuster filmmaking.
While Kennedy was clear that AI won’t transform every movie, she believes it could be particularly powerful for large-scale, world-building stories.
“For big tentpole stories where you’re trying to create images people haven’t seen before, I really believe this technology is going to do that,” she said.
“I genuinely feel like we’re entering that moment again… where we’re going to see things we’ve never seen before.”
