Princess Leia Organa will appear in the next Star Wars movie, slated for released in December 2019, some three years after the death of the actress who played her, Carrie Fisher.
Carrie’s brother, Todd Fisher, 60, recently spoke to ABC News about his sister’s inclusion in the film and what fans can expect will come of her legacy within the next few years. Carrie suffered a heart attack on Dec. 27, 2016 at age 60, and her mother, iconic actress Debbie Reynolds, famously died the next day at 84 years old.
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“There’s a lot of minutes of footage. I don’t mean just outtakes,” Todd told the outlet in an interview published last week. “This is unused, new content that could be woven into the storyline. That’s what’s going to give everybody such a great kick. It’s going to look like it was meant to be. Like it was shot yesterday.”
He continued, “We’re not allowed to talk about the details of anything … But we’re thrilled at what’s been done.”
Returning director J.J. Abrams, who co-wrote the script for Episode IX alongside Chris Terrio, said in a statement in July, “We desperately loved Carrie Fisher. Finding a truly satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker saga without her eluded us. We were never going to recast, or use a CG character. With the support and blessing from her daughter, Billie, we have found a way to honor Carrie’s legacy and role as Leia in Episode IXby using unseen footage we shot together in Episode VII.”
Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy had previously indicated to Entertainment Weekly that Fisher’s death would halt her involvement with the picture, saying, “Obviously, with Carrie having passed away, it shook everybody. We pretty much started over.”
Also returning to the franchise are Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, Lourd, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Billy Dee Williams.
As for the film’s fresh new faces, actors Naomi Ackie and Richard E. Grant will join the film in unspecified roles. Perhaps not surprisingly, John Williams will once again compose the film’s score, as he has done throughout the Star Wars saga.
The film is expected to hit theaters on Dec. 20, 2019.