Michelle Rejwan reportedly stepping down as Senior VP at Lucasfilm, but will continue producing for the company

According to Deadline, Michelle Rejwan has stepped down as Senior Vice President for Live Action Development & Production at Lucasfilm.

The article says that she is returning to being a producer and has signed a deal with Lucasfilm and Walt Disney Studios, where she will continue to work out of Lucasfilm’s office.

Rejwan started as a producing partner alongside J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot, including working as a co-producer on The Force Awakens, which grossed over $2 billion at the global box office and re-introduced the Star Wars franchise to the big-screen for the first time in a decade. She returned to the franchise as producer for The Rise of Skywalker, and in the summer of 2019 was hired as a Senior VP at Lucasfilm, with the company saying that she had been part of their creative brain trust since 2015.

In her role at Lucasfilm, Rejwan worked as an executive producer on Obi-Wan Kenobi, Light & Magic, Andor, and Willow. Deadline reports that her work on those ongoing projects, Andor and Willow, will continue.

This news is admittedly a bit odd, as it seems like a strange move for her to make on her own, yet her relationship with Liucasfilm seems to still be quite good for her to remain as a producing partner and work out of their offices. She just won’t be part of the company’s senior leadership much longer. According to the company, in Rejwan’s role she “oversees all theatrical and direct-to-consumer live-action content and is responsible for identifying and delivering future projects for Lucasfilm. Working closely with Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy, Rejwan shapes and implements the creative strategy for Star Wars and Lucasfilm.”

Whatever the reason for this move, the reality is that Lucasfilm’s live-action development slate has been a bit confusing as of late. The shows have been a major focus and are churning out content for Disney+, but the films seem stuck in limbo, whether that’s Patty Jenkins’s Rogue Squadron, Taika Waititi’s untitled film, or others. The release date for the next Star Wars film is still uncertan. It would not shock me to learn that this was a factor in this move, one way or another.