Don't fire Kathleen Kennedy over Solo

The head of Lucasfilm is not the scapegoat you're looking for

Kathleen Kennedy.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images, Lucasfilm Ltd.)

You know times are strange when a film franchise that's earned $4 billion in less than three years feels like it's in jeopardy. So aggrieved are some Star Wars fans by behind-the-scenes missteps at Lucasfilm and by last year's divisive The Last Jedi that the disappointing box office receipts of Solo: A Star Wars Story, which is now expected to lose somewhere between $50 million to $80 million, feel downright apocalyptic for the brand. Never mind the critical and financial merits of the other Disney-era entries; in the hyperbolic hellscape of online film discourse, one minor dud spells doom.

At the center of this whirling controversy is Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy, who many fans unfairly blame for all the franchise's perceived failures and want gone. But she's done nothing to warrant this level of abuse. Disney should keep her around.

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Lindsey Romain

Lindsey Romain is a culture writer living in Austin, Texas. Her work has appeared in Vulture, Marie Claire, Thrillist, Vice, and Teen Vogue.