Courtesy of Photo by Alex J. Berliner – © ABImages

For some time now, speculation has been swirling that Lucasfilm’s long-time president may be leaving Disney. But reports that Kathleen Kennedy will retire at the end of her contract may be premature.

Puck reported Tuesday that Kennedy, who is 71, is expected to step down as president of the storied production company behind the ‘Star Wars’ franchise before the end of 2025. Numerous news outlets have followed with their own reports. A source familiar with the matter told CNN that’s not the case and stressed that ‘there’s nothing there right now.’ If there’s anything to announce about Kennedy’s retirement, it will be made public when ‘actual decisions are made’, the source said. Lucasfilm did not respond to a request for comment, and a spokesperson for Disney did not comment on this story.

Kennedy joined Lucasfilm in 2012 as a co-chair along with George Lucas, and shortly after Lucas left the company after Disney’s $4-billion acquisition in the same year, Kennedy was named president.

Kennedy has been recognized for revitalizing the “Star Wars” franchise after her assistance in launching the latest trilogy in the ‘Star Wars’ universe. The sequel trilogy had major successes at the domestic box office, but the movies were plagued with diminishing returns. The three sequel films pulled in more domestically than any of the three prequel films with the exception of 2015’s “The Force Awakens“, which made just over $936 million, followed by 2018’s “The Last Jedi“, and 2019’s “Rise of Skywalker.”

Lucasfilm’s release of a new “Star Wars” movie every year from 2015 to 2019 was met with mixed success under Kennedy. Critics praised Lucasfilm’s 2016 “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story“, which earned over $532 million at the domestic box office, but they were less kind towards the company’s 2018 “Solo: A Star Wars Story“, which only made $213 million domestically. ‘Solo,’ which cost at least $250 million, along with its expensive marketing campaign, was the first ‘Star Wars’ movie to lose money.

Lucasfilm switched to streaming as Star Wars movies suffered declining returns on the silver screen, and it premiered its first season of “The Mandalorian” on Disney+ in November 2019, just as Disney’s streaming platform launched. Since then, Lucasfilm has made five more live-action films, including two more seasons of the “Mandalorian” series, “The Book of Boba Fett:, “Obi-Wan Kenobi“, and “Ahsoka”.