Lucasfilm commits to hiring a woman to direct a Star Wars film … eventually

By Adam Poltrack October 15, 2015

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The Star Wars franchise is no stranger to strong, capable women.

Princess Leia, after all, was nobody’s damsel in distress, and in general the Jedi Knights organization is an equal opportunity employer.

As such, it would make sense to see a woman board the sprawling franchise expansion that Disney has planned for the seminal series. However, with J.J. Abrams (Episode VII), Rian Johnson (Episode VIII), and Colin Trevorrow (Episode IX) helming the sequel trilogy, and talk of Phil Lord, Gareth Edwards, and Chris Miller tackling Lucasfilm’s upcoming spinoffs, it won’t be happening any time soon.

Lucasfilm President and real-life woman Kathy Kennedy recently spoke to Fortune on the subject and, to her credit, she didn’t beat around the bush. Here’s a snippet of what she had to say:

“It is going to happen. We are going to hire a woman who’s going to direct a Star Wars movie. I have no doubt. On the other hand, I want to make sure we put someone in that position who’s set up for success. It’s not just a token job to look out and try to find a woman that we could put into a position of directing Star Wars… If we do want to bring a woman in to direct a Star Wars movie, we want to make sure that it’s somebody who’s passionate and really, really wants to do a Star Wars movie. We don’t want to talk somebody into it.”

That sounds like a promise to us. And since the studio doesn’t figure to stop ~~printing money~~ making Star Wars films any time soon, there should be plenty of opportunities. Kennedy also went on to add that women are well-represented in the studio at-large, and that they make up fifty percent of its executive team.

In Hollywood, and far beyond its gilded borders, gender equality is an issue very much on the public consciousness at the moment, so it’s nice to know that this is on Lucasfilm’s radar. Hopefully it will happen sooner rather than later.

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