Family, friends, and fans are still mourning the tragic death ofCarrie Fisher, but the folks at Lucasfilm are also faced with the unenviable task of deciding how to proceed with itsStar Warsfranchise without one of its key performers. We previously learned that Fisherhad completed her workon writer/directorRian Johnson’s sequelStar Wars: Episode VIII, which will reportedly see General Leia taking on a larger role than the one she had inThe Force Awakens. But according toTHR, Leia was poised to have an evenbiggerrole inStar Wars: Episode IX, and Lucasfilm is at a crossroads.
The report states that at least two major scenes are planned for Leia inEpisode VIIIandIX: a reunion withMark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker, and a confrontation with son Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). It’s unclear which of these scenes takes place in which movie, but it certainly presents story issues forEpisode IX.
Per THR,Episode IXdirectorColin Trevorrowis due to arrive in Los Angeles next week, at which time a series of meetings will take place with Lucasfilm’sKathleen Kennedyto decide how to proceed. It’s still early in theEpisode IXdevelopment process as Trevorrow and co-writerDerek Connollyare presumably still working on the script, with production’s not expected to begin until very late 2017 or early 2018. That means it’s possible Leia could be written out ofEpisode IXentirely, at which point the Lucasfilm team would have to decide how to explain Leia’s absence—does Leia die offscreen, or get a sendoff into the sunset a laPaul WalkerinFurious 7?
Which raises another option: CGI effects could be used to include Leia inEpisode IXwithout Carrie Fisher. Lucasfilm just completed technically stunning work resurrecting a character via CGI inRogue Oneto controversial results, and thus certainly has the capability to bring Leia back even though Fisher is no longer with us.
But should they? Is it ethical to digitally recreate an actor to star in a film without his or her knowledge or permission? Fisher obviously was planning to return forEpisode IX, but would she want to be digitally brought back just to serve a fictional story? That is, obviously, tough to say, and Lucasfilm and Trevorrow have some very difficult decisions to make, no doubt with the input and involvement of Fisher’s daughterBillie Lourd.
THR notes that Lucasfilm is no stranger to rewriting and reworking theseStar Warsfilms extensively, not only because of the lengthy reshoots onRogue One, but becauseJ.J. Abrams’ extensive post-production changes toThe Force Awakensforced Johnson to perform a major rewrite on hisEpisode VIIIscript—he was working off of earlier draftsThe Force Awakens, but Abrams tweaked the story and characters throughout post-production with some extensive (and highly secretive) reshoots.
This is all ethically tricky territory, and a source tells THR that while Lucasfilm is meeting to address the story/production problems, everyone over there is still in great mourning over Fisher’s death. I understandStar Warsmeans a lot to many people, and folks are curious what will happen to the production ofEpisode IX, but it’s vitally important to remember that Carrie Fisher was not just a character in the movies. She was a person—a vibrant, whip-smart, hilarious, passionate human being, and she’s no longer with us, and that hurts.
