While doing the promotional rounds for his upcoming film The Book of Henry (set for release on June 16th in the States) Star Wars: Episode IX director Colin Trevorrow naturally found himself also fielding questions on his plans to close out the Sequel Trilogy. And unsurprisingly, one of the major topics was the recent tragic and untimely death of Carrie Fisher and how the film will deal with the Princess Leia character.
Speaking to CinemaBlend, Trevorrow stated “[General Leia] was a major character, that’s not a secret. She really was. And it was extremely sad for all of us, mostly just because she was so loved by the Star Wars family and everyone that worked with her. I feel like our options are limited mostly by ourselves, in that there [are] only certain things that we are willing to do. But I can guarantee it will be handled with love and respect, and all of the soul that Carrie Fisher deserves.”
Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy has previously revealed that Leia would have been “front and center” of Episode IX, while the studio has also ruled out the possibility of digitally recreating Carrie Fisher, as they did with Peter Cushing’s Grand Moff Tarkin in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. However, Fisher did complete all of her work on Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and Lucasfilm has said that it won’t be making any changes to Episode VIII in order to deal with her passing.
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Star Wars: The Last Jedi is set for release on December 15th and sees returning cast members Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Leia Organa), Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron), Lupita Nyong’o (Maz Kanata), Domhnall Gleeson (General Hux), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Gwendoline Christie (Captain Phasma), Billie Lourd (Lieutenant Connix), Andy Serkis (Supreme Leader Snoke), Peter Mayhew and Joonas Suotamo (Chewbacca), Tim Rose (Admiral Ackbar), Mike Quinn (Nien Nunb), Simon Pegg (Unkar Plutt), and Warwick Davis joined by new additions Jimmy Vee (Pan) as R2-D2, Kelly Marie Tran (Ladies Like Us) as Rose, Benicio Del Toro (Guardians of the Galaxy) as DJ and Laura Dern (Jurassic Park) as Admiral Holdo.
Originally published June 6, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
