Carrie Fisher would have been central figure of next ‘Star Wars’ movie
May 24, 2017 - 11:34 am
LOS ANGELES, — Late actress Carrie Fisher was supposed to be the leading force of the ninth film in the “Star Wars” saga, plans derailed by her sudden death last year, Lucasfilm Ltd. president Kathleen Kennedy said in an interview published on Wednesday.
Kennedy told Vanity Fair that Fisher, who died in December at age 60 after suffering a heart attack, had finished filming the forthcoming eighth film “The Last Jedi” and was hoping her character, Gen. Leia Organa, would be the central figure of Episode IX.
“The minute she finished, she grabbed me and said, ‘I’d better be at the forefront of IX!’ because Harrison(Ford) was front and center on VII, and Mark (Hamill) is front and center on VIII. She thought IX would be her movie. And it would have been,” Kennedy said.
Fisher rose to fame as Princess Leia in the original “Star Wars” franchise from 1977 to 1983, alongside Ford’s roguish Han Solo and Hamill’s Jedi fighter Luke Skywalker.
Ford bowed out of the series as his character was killed off in 2015’s “The Force Awakens,” that rebooted the “Star Wars” franchise with a new trilogy of films from Walt Disney Co.
While details of “The Last Jedi,” due out on Dec. 15, have been kept secret, Vanity Fair said Fisher’s role in the film was not affected by her death, other than making it “more poignant: the film farewell of both the actress and the character.”
The yet-to-be-titled ninth film, due out in May 2019, has been reworked by Kennedy, director Colin Trevorrow and the Lucasfilm team, Vanity Fair said, and is due to start filming next year. Lucasfilm said earlier this year that it would not digitally recreate Fisher’s likeness in future films.
Vanity Fair’s feature celebrating the franchise’s 40th anniversary, revealed details about new characters in “The Last Jedi” played by Laura Dern, Benicio Del Toro and newcomer Kelly Marie Tran. It also provided tidbits from the set, such as a reported competition between Hamill and Fisher to see who could reach a million Twitter followers first.
With #TheLastJedi cast interviews & new photos, V.F.'s cover story offers the ultimate sneak peek for #StarWars fans https://t.co/ZN0e5kJbLy pic.twitter.com/789u2wlh7M
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) May 24, 2017
The ultimate sneak peek at #TheLastJedi, now on @VanityFair: https://t.co/IFFRCwKFBx pic.twitter.com/zJ2v6j7HbJ
— Star Wars (@starwars) May 24, 2017
Watch Mark @HamillHimself tease that #TheLastJedi is "so much different, in many ways, than the other episodes" https://t.co/K6hrLJPsBs
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) May 24, 2017
Discover an unmasked Phasma, Laura Dern’s hair, and more as we dive into the secrets of our #TheLastJedi portfolio https://t.co/1vJEfFPSl9
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) May 24, 2017
Go behind-the-scenes on one of Carrie Fisher's final #StarWars photoshoots https://t.co/1E52IEg7fN pic.twitter.com/Wm70uJsVZ6
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) May 24, 2017
No #StarWars reflection is complete without a tribute to Carrie Fisher's Leia—the revered general, princess & rebel https://t.co/u0eDSTP8Ok pic.twitter.com/bFEfdkAkFD
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) May 23, 2017
Vanity Fair’s first of four #StarWars covers features at least one Jedi—who may or may not be the last https://t.co/kH0AbuNcx0 pic.twitter.com/uwHUDpWXow
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) May 23, 2017