‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ Will Not Be Changed Due to Carrie Fisher’s Death
Though it felt kind of wrong, when Carrie Fisher died in December a lot of us wondered how the Star Wars movies would weather her loss. Had she finished shooting all her scenes? (She had, at least for Episode 8.) How integral to the plot of Episodes 8 and 9 was Leia going to be? Would the story need to be changed to accommodate for her absence? Some wondered if her likeness would be Tarkin’d onto a body stand-in for the final movie, which felt wrong even to think about. (It’s not happening, thankfully.) Lucasfilm has a lot to consider after losing one of its biggest stars, but it sounds like none of The Last Jedi is going to be changed because of her death.
Disney CEO Bob Iger spoke at USC Marshall School of Business, and inevitably the talk turned to Star Wars. He brought up Fisher, and explained that none of her portion of the next Star Wars will need to be altered. Via Periscope:
We’ve had to deal with tragedy this past year because Carrie Fisher passed away tragically in December, and she appears throughout [Episode] 8. What I can say about that is she is in 8 and we’re not changing 8 to deal with her passing. So her performance, which we’re really pleased with, remains as it was in 8.
He also addressed concerns of digital resurrection, which he assured the audience that Lucasfilm was not considering for her character:
In Rogue One, we created digitally a few characters, one an actor that had actually passed away but had been in an earlier Star Wars film. We’re not doing that with Carrie, although technology gives the ability to do so many different things today.
Well thank goodness for that. What this means for Fisher’s character Leia is a little mysterious. Is the reason she needs no altering because her part of the Star Wars story over after The Last Jedi? If so, what’s going to happen to her? Given how secretive Lucasfilm and Disney are about this project, we’ll probably have to wait until we’re seated in the theater to find out.