'Star Wars' executive Kathleen Kennedy to produce L.A.'s 2028 Summer Olympics ceremonies

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Set us as preferred Veteran Hollywood film producer Kathleen Kennedy will oversee the opening and closing ceremonies at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, the organizing committee said Wednesday, giving the executive behind the blockbuster Star Wars and Jurassic Park franchises a leading role in staging what has been billed as the biggest athletic event in modern history.Kennedy will helm a team of producers designing the look and content of dual ceremonies that will kick off the Summer Olympics on July 14, 2028 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Exposition Park and SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.She also will lead the team designing the closing ceremony and both ceremonies for the Paralympics, which begin a month later.

“This appointment reinforces LA28’s commitment to harness the unparalleled creativity, cultural influence and storytelling power of the entertainment capital of the world,” an announcement from the Olympic organizers said.The result will be “ceremonies that are distinctly Los Angeles and leave a lasting impression on the global stage.”At LA28, Kennedy will serve as head of ceremonies and content, a post that had been held by another big-name entertainment executive, Peter Rice.Rice had a long career at 20th Century Fox, climbing the ranks to become president of 21st Century Fox in 2017.

He recently was named chief content officer at Netflix.LA28 said in its announcement that Rice would remain on as an executive producer.Kennedy ended a 14-year run as president of Lucasfilm in January, a changing of the guard at the Star Wars studio.LA28 Chairman Casey Wasserman heralded Kennedy as a legend and “one of Hollywood’s all-time greats,” adding: “I can’t think of anyone better to conjure the magic of Hollywood than Kathleen.”In her own statement, Kennedy said she and her husband and pr...