Star Wars: Episode IX started over after Carrie Fisher’s death

When Star Wars icon Carrie Fisher passed away in December of 2016, Lucasfilm started Star Wars: Episode IX from scratch…

When Carrie Fisher died in December of 2016, many Star Wars fans wondered if Disney/Lucasfilm would digitally recreate General Leia for Star Wars: Episode IX.

Coming off the worldwide premiere of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, with its digitally recreated Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin (Guy Henry played the part), and a young version of Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia (Ingvild Deila played that role), had us all wondering if an older version of Leia could be recreated for Episode IX.

However, Disney CEO, Bob Iger, made it very clear that Fisher’s death would be addressed in Episode IX, and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy took an even firmer stance by saying that the legendary actress would not, in any way, be in Star Wars: Episode IX.

Now, Kennedy has told Entertainment Weekly that when Fisher passed away, Colin Trevorrow and the rest of the creative team for Star Wars: Episode IX, had to start completely over.

Image Credit: Lucasfilm

"Obviously, with Carrie having passed away, it shook everybody. We pretty much started over."

Fisher did finish all her scenes for Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Kennedy adds that the actress was fantastic in her role as General Leia.

With The Last Jedi not hitting the big screen until December this year, it’s hard to tell which direction Colin Trevorrow will take, in regard to Fisher. Could she someone who is mentioned off-screen by the characters in the film? Will her character die off-screen? We don’t know, but whatever happens, Disney and Lucasfilm will make sure that Fisher’s legacy lives on.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi hits theaters on December 15.