Kathleen Kennedy on Getting J.J. Abrams for 'Star Wars: Episode VII,' That 2015 Release Date and George Lucas

The Hollywood Reporter has a lengthy article about Kathleen Kennedy, the new head of Lucasfilm and the woman responsible for getting J.J. Abrams on board to direct Star Wars: Episode VII. Kennedy has had quite the career, so there's a lot of information in the article, but some of the most interesting parts are how she convinced Abrams to direct and her thoughts on whether or not Episode VII will actually hit that 2015 date that Disney originally promised.

How Kennedy pitched Episode VII to Abrams:

Famously plain-spoken, she summarizes her pitch like this: "Please do Star Wars." And she had cards to play. Not only was Oscar winner Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine, Toy Story 3) writing the script, but Lawrence Kasdan, who wrote 1980's The Empire Strikes Back and 1983's Return of the Jedi, was on board to consult. Abrams "was flipping out when he found out that Michael and Larry were on the movie already," says Kennedy.

I love how Abrams was just as excited about learning that Lawrence Kasdan was involved as a lot of us were. The guy wrote The Empire Strikes Back ... and now he's making sure the next Star Wars movie goes the right way.

On the importance of "getting the story" instead of hitting an arbitrary release date:

To the bitter end, Abrams was telling associates that he still wasn't fully committed to directing the project. But Kennedy is confident that he will be in the chair when the cameras roll. She is less clear that the first film in the new trilogy will be ready by 2015. "Our goal is to move as quickly as we can, and we'll see what happens," says Kennedy. "The timetable we care about is getting the story."

Thank you, Kathleen Kennedy. I know that Disney wants to get the Star Wars machine cranking again as quickly as possible, but working toward a release date and just hoping that story and characterization gets worked out in the process is a bad thing. It ruins movies, especially sequels. Go as Jon Favreau how that worked out on Iron Man 2.

Can George Lucas really stay away from the Star Wars universe that he created?

Lucas still will be in the picture, but his role is expected to be limited as Kennedy begins to exploit the Lucasfilm assets. "I call him my Yoda," says Kennedy. "He'll be a consultant. But he recognizes he's stepping away." 

Asked whether he believes Lucas can really keep his distance, Spielberg doesn't hesitate. "I completely know he can do that," he says. "He's ready to start living without the burden and weight and responsibility of this huge corporate asset."

Look, I don't think I'm as worried about Lucas as much as some people are now. Disney paid a lot of money for Star Wars, and they're not going to screw this up. Every move that Kennedy has made so far has shown me that this isn't Lucas running things anymore.