Carrie Fisher will appear in Star Wars Episode 9, family confirms

It has been confirmed that ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ will not mark the final appearance of the late Carrie Fisher as Leia Organa.

The fate of the iconic character had been thrown into question following the tragic sudden death of Fisher this past Christmas. It was known that, after a fairly brief appearance in 2015’s ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens,’ Fisher had a more substantial role to play in the upcoming eighth film in the beloved sci-fi adventure series, for which she had completed all her scenes before her untimely passing.

Now, the sadly-missed actress and writer’s brother Todd Fisher has confirmed that he and his niece Billie Lourd have granted Lucasfilm permission to use existing, previously unused footage of Carrie Fisher in the as-yet untitled ‘Star Wars Episode IX,’ set to start production in July – and many fans will be pleased to hear this footage will reportedly be utilised without CGI augmentation.

Todd Fisher tells the New York Daily News, “[Billie and I] were like, ‘yes, how do you take her out of it?’ and the answer is you don’t… She’s as much a part of it as anything and I think her presence now is even more powerful than it was, like Obi Wan — when the saber cuts him down he becomes more powerful.

“I feel like that’s what’s happened with Carrie. I think the legacy should continue… I think the people deserve to have her. She’s owned by them.”

Following on from ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ writer-director Rian Johnson, ‘Episode IX’ will be directed and co-written by Colin Trevorrow, and Fisher says he has faith these filmmakers will “do great things,” remarking, “You don’t mess with this legacy. It would be like rewriting the Bible. To me, ‘Star Wars’ is the holy grail of storytelling and lore and you can’t mess with it.”

‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ opens in UK cinemas on 15 December, with ‘Episode IX’ set to follow in 2019.

Read More:
Every movie Dwayne Johnson has in the works right now
Latest photos from Pirates 5
Tarantino flop Grindhouse more influential than you think