Carrie Fisher will not be in Star Wars Episode IX, the franchise's producer has confirmed.
Fisher, who starred as Princess Leia in the original trilogy and 2015's Episode VII: The Force Awakens, died in December. She had already completed shooting her scenes for Episode VIII: The Last Jedi and last week her brother and daughter said they'd given Lucasfilm and Disney permission to use her likeness.
Speaking to the New York Daily News, Todd Fisher said her presence in the Star Wars universe was "now even more powerful than it was", echoing character Obi-Wan Kenobi's famous line in Episode IV: "If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine."
But in a new interview, producer Kathleen Kennedy says Todd Fisher was "probably confused".
"When Carrie passed away in December that was a huge blow for all of us, and it caused us to sit with Colin [Trevorrow, director] to really think where we were headed with Episode IX," she told Yahoo Movies at the Star Wars Celebration in Orlando, Florida.
"Carrie was a significant part in that story - that was something she very much wanted and something we very much wanted. But given the circumstances, we would not carry on with that."
Ms Kennedy also told ABC News there is "a lot" of Fisher in Episode VIII, but she will definitely not be in Episode IX.
She will be meeting Trevorrow soon to look at a new script for Episode IX that accounts for Fisher's absence.
The news comes the same day the first trailer for Episode VIII was released.
Newshub.
