Carrie Fisher will not appear in Star Wars Episode IX
Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy says the filmmakers have "started over" with the next instalment in the Star Wars franchise following Fisher's death late last year
Carrie Fisher is "phenomenal" as Leia Organa in Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi – but after her death, she will not now be appearing in Episode IX, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has confirmed.
The Star Wars executive told Good Morning America that although General Leia was initially set to feature in Episode IX, Fisher's death late last year made them 'start over'.
The news comes after Star Wars was forced to release an official statement denying rumours that Fisher would be "digitally recreated" in future films.
"We finished everything in VIII, and Carrie is absolutely phenomenal in the movie, and we're so happy that we were able to complete shooting in the summer," Kennedy said in the interview above.
However, with Episode IX still to be filmed, Kennedy explained that plans had to be changed following Fisher's death: "By the time we were well underway with Episode IX in our thoughts, we had no written the scripts yet, but we've regrouped, we started over again in January. So sadly, Carrie will not be in IX. But we'll see a lot of her in VIII, which is great."
The first teaser trailer for The Last Jedi gave viewers what looks like their first glimpse of Fisher as General Leia in the movie – albeit only the back of her head.
