By Travis Johnson
The death of Carrie Fisher in December will, of course, have profound ramifications for the future of the Star Wars franchise, which is something we have ruminated on before. While Disney/Lucasfilm have already stated that they do not plan to digitally recreate Fisher in any future installments, birth.movies.death is today reporting that they do not plan to alter Fisher’s final performance in any way.
Disney CEO Bob Iger is quoted as saying, “We had to deal with tragedy at the end of 2016. Carrie appears throughout VIII. We are not changing VIII to deal with her passing. Her performance remains as it is in VIII. In Rogue One, we had some digital character. We are not doing that with Carrie.”
This does raise the question of how Fisher’s passing will affect how the character of Leia Organa in Episode IX. It’s a thorny issue, and we don’t envy anyone saddled with the task of explaining Leia’s absence without simply handwaving it. Still, so far the powers that be seem to be taking the high road.
