Kathleen Kennedy: Carrie Fisher Will Not Appear in Star Wars: Episode IX. She Will Have A Bigger Role in The Last Jedi
Just a week after Carrie Fisher’s brother Todd said that Disney want to bring Princess Leia back for Episode IX, came the announcement from Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy that this is not true and Carrie won’t appear in Episode IX. According to her Todd Fisher got confused. Still, Kennedy assured the fans that we will see lots of Carrie in The Last Jedi.
The revelation came during Kathleen Kennedy’s interview with GMA from earlier today.
EXCLUSIVE: Lucasfilm President Kathy Kennedy says Carrie Fisher will NOT be in @StarWars Episode 9 as General Leia. #SWCO #TheLastJedi pic.twitter.com/gxH80QteYb
— Good Morning America (@GMA) April 14, 2017
Many people were speculating about which path Lucasfilm should choose for Leia’s future. Now we know that her journey will end with The Last Jedi. This still doesn’t necessarily mean that Leia will die in The Last Jedi. It will be just too heartbreaking for everyone. I think the best way to handle this is to approach it like Universal did with Paul Walker in the last Fast and Furious film. Perhaps she will just take on another journey in another galaxy even farther away.
Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.
Born on April 24, 1980.
Nooooo ):
http://nooooooooooooooo.com/
This….saddens me. I am sure that Lucasfilm will address the issue properly and respectfully though.
Her brother is a liar.
Or he was just incorrect.
Or alternative facts.
Or fake news.
Or Russian propaganda.
Only a Sith deals in absolutes
Or he revealed something that he wasn’t supposed to.
I saw the video of Kennedy earlier, even though it sounds unequivocal I couldn’t help notice that she stated that Carrie hadn’t filmed anything and that there had to be rewrites.
I don’t know, I’m just not 100% convinced – If it were me, I would find some way to have her appear as a force ghost.
Depressing news: I suppose TLJ is indeed Carrie’s send off, after all. 🙁
So there have been or will be reshoots to address this then. Very curious how it will change the film.
No, they said that the film will end exactly as was originally planned.
9 hasn’t started shooting yet, so there will be *rewrites*.
That’s a strange disconnect. I hope it doesn’t hurt the story of the Sequel Trilogy. We lost Han in 7, looks like we’ll lose Leia in 8 – should we expect to lose Luke in 9? Kill off all the old crew (except Chewie and the driods) so you can move on fresh with the new generation? Hate to be a skeptic, but it looks like a possibility. Not quite sure how I feel about this news…
If they kill Luke, we RIOT.
No, you whine. We’ll still be here.
I hope this means they are re-casting Leia for Episode IX. It’s not ideal, but I’d much rather see Leia’s arc finish properly, whatever that may be (for all we know, she dies in Episode 8, and they were only going to use her image as a Force Ghost in 9), than to have the story changed because of Carrie’s death.
I don’t want any re-casting. In my opinion, Carrie can’t be replaced as that character – just as Mark and Harrison can’t be replaced as their characters. We’ve had 40 years to get to know these characters and the actors that portray them, no point in trying to substitute them now after they’ve been embedded in our minds as these characters. Maybe in a few future generations, but not any time soon. And before anyone mentions the “young Han Solo movie” and how Solo and Lando have been re-cast – that’s essentially a prequel and not the same thing. Ewan did great in the Prequels as a young Obi-Wan. It’s one thing to go back in time (story-wise) and replace an actor with a younger version, it’s something else to replace a deceased actor with someone else.
Fair enough. But what if Mark Hamill had died after Empire? Would you have preferred a re-casting, or a changed story, such as skipping the Vader redemption arc, and just focusing on blowing up the second Death Star?
For me, I’d rather the recasting. Even though the prequels were set in the past, we still had to get used to Ewan as Obi-Wan. And we did. I think the same would happen if they recast Leia (as I said, assuming she doesn’t die in 8).
If Mark had died after Empire, even more fans would be bitching about Return of the Jedi, and not just because of the teddy bears on parade (aka Ewoks). Seriously though, I think it would have been EXTREMELY hard to conclude that trilogy without Mark or with a Mark “replacement” actor. ROTJ was Luke’s movie, more than any other movie in the OT franchise. People bitched about how Han Solo woke up from carbonite and wasn’t as smart-assed and cool as he was in the previous films – but it makes sense. He was humbled. He found a family. He found a cause. He wasn’t a loner any more. People cared enough about him to risk their lives to come rescue him. ROTJ was Luke’s movie to come into his own and finally face Vader and his destiny. A lot of people didn’t like this because they were so enamored with Harrison Ford that they just wanted his sarcastic anti-hero to keep cracking jokes. Mark wasn’t as charismatic as Harrison, and the character of Luke Skywalker suffered a little bit for that I think. But, to answer your question unequivocally – if Mark Hamill had died and was unable to film ROTJ it would have been a disaster for everyone – George Lucas, Lucasfilm, and the fans. Replacing him I don’t think would have worked, and “killing him off” I think would have been a disaster too. Luckily we didn’t have to deal with that tragedy. Here we are with a real-life scenario with Carrie Fisher, and only time will tell how well the filmmakers handled the tragedy. It’s a tough spot to be in.
No, recast. Carrie would have wanted it.
Get rid of the comma, I agree.
How would you know? I don’t mean to disrespectful or anything, but I’m genuinely wondering. Had Carrie spoken about things like this in the past?
I agree with you that it would have been extremely hard to conclude the old trilogy if Mark Hamill had died – but I’m pretty sure most fans would have wanted to see a re-cast. It’s not ideal, but it’s better than nothing, and certainly better than messing with the story. We’ll see what happens. It absolutely sucks that Carrie died, and it’s not an easy choice, but I still say they should re-cast if Leia has a big role in IX.
You might be right about Lucas being forced to recast Luke for ROTJ if Mark were not able to do it, but luckily for us fans that didn’t have to happen. Seeing a different face in the role probably would have been a distraction, likely pulling fans out of the movie and making them much less invested in the story. This is my fear with a recasting of Leia and why I don’t want them to do it. It’s even more extreme now for Leia than it would have been for Luke in ROTJ because we’ve been watching and re-watching Carrie Fisher in that role for 40 years! Even when Lucas approached “The Big Three” a few years back about doing a Sequel Trilogy he told them if they weren’t interested he would write them out of the story, not recast their characters. I just could never see it working very well….
Set Ep. 9 two or three years later than 8, she died of natural causes in between films. That’s life..
That would be super lame. Can you imagine if Han or Vader or Fett “died in their sleep” during the course of their stories? I understand Leia is older now than they were but it’s still a lazy way of trying to justify her early exit from the saga. It’s fantasy. Not real life. That’s part of why we like it. Star Wars is not Game of Thrones.
Very clichéd…….Abrams loves it.
He’s not directing the film.
Your comment is so clichéd it should have a lensflare
That would be lame. So would recasting mid-trilogy. KK and RJ seem very calm about this subject of Leia/Carrie Fisher. I assume right after her death they had a sit down and decided, with enough time and enough footage, exactly how to rewrite Ep8 to give her a proper death scene/story.
This would also mean less chance of there being some weepy redemption scene between Leia and Kylo Ren…that I would not want to see.
Seriously fuck the ST and everyone involved in it’s making! It’s bad enough they had to dump that turd of a trailer on everyone after that GMA stunt but they couldn’t find ONE good shot of her face and had to disrespectfully use one of the back of her head for one second instead.
Jesus H. Christ – entitled much?
What a baby
Or they could have general Leia retire after the traumatic events/losses of Ep. 7 & 8. Heads off to a quiet little planet somewhere to finish her remaining days in peace & that’s the last we see of her..
There’s an interesting post here – https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=204&t=1666489 Claims “Our eldest daughter is one of the 3rd ADs and they are definitely still filming. What exactly I don’t know as she is very good at the keeping it secret stuff. Still got 2 overseas shoots to go I believe.”
I cannot vouch for the accuracy though as I don’t know the person.
Remember all that news from last year ( rumours ) that in EP 8 General Leia was to be injured in a blast and be in a coma for much of the movie, with Laura Dern’s character taking over many of the General’s duties?
What if they re-jig the film so that Carrie is in it much more, with the ‘explosion/coma’ now happen towards the end of the movie, concluding with General Leia’s ultimate demise?
That may be a good way to resolve the Leia issue.
Very strange that there should be such “misunderstandings”. But if Leia has to die in The Last Jedi, so be it. Better give the character a proper send-off than just having some kind of P.S. in the opening crawl of IX: “Oh, by the way, since last time General Organa has retired to her country house on Naboo.”
These days, CGI is perfectly good enough to give us Leia as a slightly blurry Force ghost, and I wouldn’t have any CGI-phobia if that is what it takes to give her some kind of presence in Episode IX as well.
Kathy Kennedy says, “Carrie will not be in Episode 9.”
She didn’t say that LEIA wouldn’t be in it….they’re recasting.
I’m totally fine with that. I believe if Carrie Fisher was still alive, but for some reason could not physically play Leia any longer, she’d want Leia’s character to continue on. Leia’s story/character arc is so important to the story arc and character development of Kylo Ren/Ben Solo, her son. They can’t just make the Leia disappear or die.
They’re looking to recast or have already found someone.
I am Princess Leia, Princess Leia is me. CF
Thats true but she’s not Lucasfilm.
If they were simply recasting, there would’ve been no need for them to completely rewrite Episode IX.
They didn’t say the had to rewrite, just regroup.
I got news for you: the CEO of Lucasfilm isn’t going to parse some bullshit like that in a major news story.
I hope Carrie Fisher’s Leia gets a good send off in the way that Paul Walker was given a touching send off at the end of FAST AND FURIOUS 7 – that would be perfect.
I would guess there was a Luke/Leia reunion planned in the sequel trilogy. I expect they would have targeted this for Ep9? Imagine that emotional moment with a recast-Leia.
I think that “emotional moment” wouldn’t have as much impact with a recast Leia. Hope they don’t do it.
Am I the only fan that wouldn’t care if they used CGI to have her in EP 9?
I thought her appearance in Rogue One along with Tarkin was fantastic! I don’t know what all the negativity was about? We already know that Carrie thought her appearance in Rogue was great and I highly doubt she would object to her appearing in EP9 in the same way if it meant the story could properly be completed.
Of coarse she may die in EP8 which may have always been the story line anyway but if they have changed the story since Carries death to now have Leia die in EP8 I am also fine with this, as long as it’s a good send off!
I DO NOT want her re cast and I do not want some stupid story line where Leia ‘just goes away’ that is just not believable.
If Leia doesn’t die in EP8 what are your thoughts on having her CGI for EP9 to properly complete her story?
Does Lucas Film believe they did the wrong thing with Rogue by having two GCI return characters? I personally think they absolutely made the right choice! And no, I don’t find it disrespectful at all. Peter’s family gave their seal of approval as did Carrie fisher herself so haters sit down..
The show must go on as they say and this is how it can be done these days.
Resurrect Han!!!
I could not be MORE ANGRY to hear this news —- LEIA is an ESSENTIAL element for Episode 9. No Leia in Episode 9 = a MUCH WEAKER TRILOGY. Man F*CK this
It’s not Lucasfilm’s fault that Carrie died.
You could not be childish. They are doing the best they can with a crappy hand dealt to them. You literally can’t say it is weaker until you see it.