Carrie Fisher Won’t Appear in ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’

By Maane Khatchatourian
Lucasfilm/Bad Robot/Walt Disney Studios/REX/Shutterstock

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Carrie Fisher won’t appear in “Star Wars: Episode IX,” after all.

Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy made the reveal during an interview with ABC News on Friday at the “Star Wars Celebration” in Orlando.

“Sadly, Carrie will not be in ‘Nine,'” Kennedy said. “But we’ll see a lot of her in ‘Eight,’ which is great.”

Actor Todd Fisher, the late actress’ brother and Debbie Reynolds’ son, had said that his sister had a role in the ninth installment.

“[Todd Fisher] was probably confused because we finished everything in ‘Eight,’ and Carrie is absolutely phenomenal in the movie. We’re so happy that we were able to complete shooting in the summer. Unfortunately, Carrie passed away,” Kennedy said.

Fisher told various media outlets that Disney and Lucasfilm had been given permission to use footage of the actress in “Star Wars: Episode IX.”

“By the time we were well underway with ‘Episode Nine’ in our thoughts — we had not written the script yet — but we’ve regrouped, we started over again in January,” Kennedy added.

Directed by Colin Trevorrow, the film is set to hit theaters on May 23, 2019. Trevorrow and Rian Johnson, who helms “The Last Jedi,” wrote the screenplay. 

Fisher died last December at age 60. She returned to the franchise in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and will appear in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”

The actress was honored on Thursday by her “Star Wars” family and daughter, Billie Lourd, at the “Star Wars Celebration’s” opening panel meant to reflect on the past four decades of the franchise. Mark Hamill also paid tribute to his late co-star during an event dedicated solely to her on Friday.

ABC’s “Good Morning America” tweeted a portion of Kennedy’s interview.

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