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Kathleen Kennedy is Leaving 'Jurassic Park 4' to Focus on 'Star Wars'

by Ben Pearson
February 18, 2013
Source: Twitter

After producing blockbusters like E.T., Twister, The Sixth Sense, War of the Worlds, and tons more, Steven Spielberg's producing partner Kathleen Kennedy has stepped in to become co-chairman of Lucasfilm alongside George Lucas last June. Of course, this was before we knew that Disney would purchase the company and breathe new life into the Star Wars franchise by announcing new movies in the series, and now it's become even clearer that Kennedy's priorities are all in a galaxy far, far away. Her husband Frank Marshall tweeted yesterday that Jurassic Park 4 is still happening, but Kennedy will no longer produce it.

One of the biggest questions that arose from Kennedy's new position at Lucasfilm was how it would affect her producing career, and especially her projects alongside her mentor Spielberg. She stepped down as co-head of Kennedy/Marshall Co., which Frank Marshall is still operating, but we weren't sure how quickly this would affect projects that weren't Star Wars-related. It looks like Jurassic Park 4 is the first casualty, as Marshall tweeted this yesterday when a fan asked if Kennedy would still be producing the dino sequel:

@jackdelamare No, Ms. Kennedy has moved onto Star Wars and will not be producing JP4. She's traded raptors for TIE fighters.

— Frank Marshall (@LeDoctor) February 17, 2013

Spielberg will definitely be producing Jurassic Park 4 at least, which has secured Rise of the Planet of the Apes writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver to tackle the screenplay, but Spielberg won't have Kennedy by his side this time to help produce. It's a shame that she's leaving the franchise after producing or executive producing all three previous JP entries, but this is an extremely important time for the Star Wars brand right now, and Kennedy's talents are needed on that front more than anywhere else, that's for sure.

Without any cast or a director locked down yet for the next Jurassic Park installment, time is ticking away and Universal should probably start making some decisions quickly if they really expect to meet their pre-established June 13th, 2014 release date for Jurassic Park 4. Marshall is still slated to produce alongside Spielberg, so we'll have to wait until 2014 to see if Kennedy's presence is really missed behind the scenes. Until then, I'm sure we'll be hearing more from her as one of the world's biggest film franchises gears up for its newest revival under the direction of J.J. Abrams, so stay tuned for more updates all around.

Filed under Development, Movie News

From around the web:

Me Again

Good scrap it. JP 1 was the only one worth my time, Reboot it and make it more like the book!
- Nielsen700
  
  Fuck reboots.
- http://www.facebook.com/chris.groves.507 Chris Groves
  
  A remake/reboot should still be a good 10-15 years away...IF it happens at all. I'd be all up for a new adaptation of the source material...why not?
- OfficialJab
  
  JP3 was good, man...
- JBrotsis
  
  JP1 was great enough it never needs a reboot. There's plenty of reasons why it doesn't need a reboot, it was flawless when it was made involving a great cast, almost parallel with the book (which in case if they did remake it like the book it would almost be a combination of JP1 and JP2), and it was made during the "evolutionary" change of animatronics to CGI (which they used both of, whereas most movies nowadays strictly stick to CGI). Like Chris Groves said, I'm 23 and if I were to consider a reboot, I hope I'm in my 40's or better 50's by that time.
http://www.facebook.com/chris.groves.507 Chris Groves

Good...Star Wars deserves her full attention.
- JBrotsis
  
  I kind of agree and disagree. JP means more to me than SW, and as the series is much more vast and has tons of characters, lots of needed CG work, and a three part storyline...JP4 will probably be THE last in the series (especially if it flops) to follow with the previous trilogy. So I'd rather have everyone who's been devotedly committed to the franchise, in the past, on board for this continuation. If this is the last movie, it should be good enough to rank up with JP1. SW has been confirmed to make three more movies, so if she were absent for the first...who cares...you freakin' got JJ directing it and there's plenty of trust in him to execute least the first movie (or seventh) successfully without Kathleen. But, that's just me.
  - http://www.facebook.com/chris.groves.507 Chris Groves
    
    Jurassic Park is probably my personal favorite movie of all time...but in my opinion there should have been no sequels. It should have been like E.T....left as a standalone achievement. The 4th could be a huge improvement, but at this point I don't really care about how great any future JP sequels are...it's been 'just the first one' for years to me. Star Wars, on the other hand, is a franchise of films where I'm a fan(to some degree or another) of every entry, obviously the prequels aren't on the levels of the originals. It's a franchise that needs to come back strong if they really want it to continue with multiple films. As you said, JP4 is likely the last sequel...so it's okay if it is another letdown. There is more on the line for Episode 7 to be as good as possible than for JP4.
http://twitter.com/engo9017 A Twit

Almost March 2013 and still no director, no plot synopsis, a producer is leaving...And this is supposed to be Universal's summer 2014 summer tentpole...investors should be worried