Kathleen Kennedy to Lead LA28 Olympic Ceremonies, Replacing Peter Rice

Veteran film producer Kathleen Kennedy, the former president of Lucasfilm, has been named head of ceremonies and content for the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Los Angeles organizing committee announced on Wednesday, Oct. 28. She replaces Peter Rice, who started this week as chief content officer at Netflix and will stay on with LA28 as an executive producer, according to The Hollywood Reporter and Variety.

In the role, Kennedy will lead the delivery of all four ceremonies: the Olympic opening on July 14, 2028, and closing on July 30, and the Paralympic opening on Aug. 15 and closing on Aug. 27, Variety reported. The Olympic opening ceremony will be held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Exposition Park and SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, the Los Angeles Times reported. The Associated Press, in a report published by Los Angeles Times en Español, said the Olympic closing ceremony and the Paralympic closing ceremony will both take place at the Coliseum, while the Paralympic opening will be held at SoFi Stadium.

What LA28 and Kennedy said

LA28 chairperson and president Casey Wasserman praised the appointment in a statement. "Kathleen is a legend. She is one of Hollywood's all-time greats, with a rare gift for storytelling," Wasserman said, according to Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter. "When the stars align to focus the world's attention on Los Angeles for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, I can't think of anyone better to conjure the magic of Hollywood than Kathleen."

The organizing committee's announcement said the appointment "reinforces LA28's commitment to harness the unparalleled creativity, cultural influence and storytelling power of the entertainment capital of the world," the Los Angeles Times reported, adding that the goal is "ceremonies that are distinctly Los Angeles and leave a lasting impression on the global stage."

Kennedy said she and her husband, producer Frank Marshall, have long followed the Games. "The Olympics have been a touchstone in my life. My husband, Frank Marshall, and I have attended virtually every Games since Los Angeles in 1984, and sport remains one of the great unifying experiences we share," she said, as quoted by The Hollywood Reporter. "Peter Rice has laid a terrific foundation, and I can't wait to get to work with Ben Winston, our creative director, and the whole LA28 team."

She also said, according to Variety, that "Casey Wasserman has a bold vision for what these Games can mean for Los Angeles and the world, and I'm thrilled he's asked me to help bring it to life."

The ceremonies team and Peter Rice's move to Netflix

Kennedy joins a team that includes executive producer and creative director Ben Winston and Scott Givens, a longtime Olympic and Paralympic ceremonies producer who serves as executive producer of production, according to TheWrap and Deadline. The ceremonies will be produced with support from FulFive, a newly created joint venture of Fulwell Entertainment and FiveCurrents, the outlets reported.

Rice, the former chairman of Walt Disney Television, was hired to run the LA28 ceremonies in June 2025, Deadline reported on Oct. 15, when it first said he would remain an executive producer on the ceremonies. That same day, Netflix announced that Rice would become its chief content officer effective Oct. 26, replacing Bela Bajaria, who is leaving the company after nearly 10 years. Netflix said Rice will oversee scripted and unscripted series, film, live events and more across all regions.

TheWrap reported that, after the Netflix announcement, many in the industry had wondered how Rice could manage the streaming role while continuing to lead LA28's ceremonies operations.

Kennedy's career and Lucasfilm exit

Kennedy, who is 73, according to the AP, has more than 100 film credits, TheWrap and The Hollywood Reporter reported. TheWrap said she has received eight best picture Oscar nominations, including for "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," "The Color Purple," "War Horse," "Lincoln," "Munich," "The Sixth Sense," "Seabiscuit" and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." She co-founded Amblin Entertainment with Steven Spielberg, and the company she founded with Marshall made "The Sixth Sense," "Seabiscuit" and "Lincoln," according to the Los Angeles Times.

Reports differ slightly on the timing of her departure from Lucasfilm after 14 years as president. The Los Angeles Times, TheWrap and the AP said she stepped down in January, The Hollywood Reporter said she left earlier in 2026, and Variety said she left at the end of 2025. Variety reported that she maintains a relationship with the studio, with recent credits including "The Mandalorian and Grogu" and the upcoming "Star Wars: Starfighter," starring Ryan Gosling, which The Hollywood Reporter said is due in 2027.

The Hollywood Reporter also noted that Kennedy produced "Olympic Glory," a short documentary about the 1998 Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan, and that Marshall received an Olympic Shield in 2005 for more than a decade of service on the executive committee of the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Separately on Wednesday, LA28 unveiled "Stars Align" as the official slogan of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline reported. Deadline noted that the Games and Wasserman have come under increasing scrutiny over costs and other issues. TheWrap reported that the LA28 board saw changes after the Epstein files revealed ties between Wasserman and Ghislaine Maxwell, that Wasserman left his agency, which has since been renamed, and that LA28 organizers stood behind him as chairman.