Star Wars film boss Kathleen Kennedy will 'step down' this year months after Elon Musk said she'd turned the franchise 'woke'. 

Kennedy, 71, told associates that she plans to retire by the end of the year, Puck reported last night.

She joined Lucasfilm in 2012 as co-chair alongside George Lucas, stepping up when Disney took over and Lucas left.

But Kennedy has allegedly now told Disney, friends and associates that she will leave at the end of the year.

The veteran film producer had reportedly planned to leave last year, but chose to stay on, according to Puck. 

Elon Musk had last year attacked the Lucasfilm boss for pushing what he called a 'woke' agenda in The Acolyte.

Kennedy acknowledged the criticism of Star Wars' direction in November, telling the New York Times that 'women who step into Star Wars struggle' with the expectation.

'Because of the fan base being so male-dominated, they sometimes get attacked in ways that can be quite personal,' she said.

'My belief is that storytelling does need to be representative of all people. That's an easy decision for me.'

Last year saw the release of The Acolyte, following a former Padawan reuniting with her Jedi master.

Some praised the spinoff for its diverse cast, but critics piled on with negative reviews.

An aggregate of top film critic reviews on Rotten Tomatoes gave the show a 72 per cent positive rating.

But audience reviews painted a very different picture, with The Acolyte receiving just 19 per cent support. 

Elon Musk responded to a post on X that pictured Kennedy as a 'franchise killer', asserting that 'she's more deadly than the Death Star!'

Musk also accused Kennedy of being 'super bigoted against men', without qualification.

He was responding to an X post that said she hired Leslye Headland to direct The Acolyte because she had struggled as showrunner due to the fanbase.

Amandla Stenberg, who portrayed Verosha and Mae-ho Aniseya in The Acolyte, said she received 'intolerable racism' from the fanbase after the show aired.