JasonMa said:
Disney just announced that all the "A Star Wars Story" movies are now on hold. Episode IX is clearly still a go and I haven't seen anything yet on the status of the other announced trilogies, but the rumored Boba Fett, Obi-Wan, etc. movies are paused.
You beat me to it -- though the reports I've seen are attributing anonymous sources, so it would be good to have Disney confirm.
I saw this weak blurb from
Wired that says that Kennedy isn't going anywhere, but I don't rate that at all. Consistent with the demise of journalism in general, the Wired article distorts reality by stating that Kennedy isn't going anywhere after making "three of the most successful movies in recent memory."
That's a gross distortion. Let's take a look at those three 'successes': (1) While an adequate film, The Force Awakens' success was because it had massive pent-up fan demand. As it turns out TFA is a lame story that hamstrung the rest of the trilogy. (2) We now know that the success of Rogue One was a freak accidence (the second director salvaging a disaster). (3) The success of Black Panther's (with a black cast, a third tier Marvel character and a divisive plot) box office besting The Last Jedi proves that despite its box office numbers, Last Jedi -- beyond being a garbage film -- badly underperformed at the box office.
Additionally, no one can argue that the recent Star Wars films have completely failed overseas -- which means that the current Lucasfilm team has failed a major mandate of any modern studio: grow international markets.
Put it all together and Kennedy is toast. I believe the unsubstantiated reports that she's out this Fall -- likely by way of her announcing her retirement.
To me the most telling bit of circumstantial evidence is that to my knowledge she hasn't given any press interviews since the confirmation of Solo being a flop at the box office. When a leading executive is in control and has a crisis, they go to mics. See Zuckerberg. For Kennedy, it is all silences and that tells me she's not in control.