Los Angeles — Carrie Fisher will be
featured in the next "Star Wars" movie, using previously unseen
footage she recorded before her death, Walt Disney Co.
studio said on Friday.
Actor Mark Hamill, whose Luke Skywalker character appeared
to die in last year's "Star Wars: The Last Jedi," will also
appear in the next movie, which will start filming in London on 1 August, Disney said in a statement.
Fisher, who played Princess Leia, died suddenly in December
2016 at age 60 after suffering a heart attack just as she was
enjoying a career revival with the re-invigorated "Star Wars"
movie franchise that reunited her with original cast members
Hamill and Harrison Ford in the 2015 film "Star Wars: The Force
Awakens."
She had just finished shooting "The Last Jedi" and Leia was
to have been the central character in the ninth film in the
sci-fi franchise, "Star Wars: Episode IX."
"We desperately loved Carrie Fisher," director J.J. Abrams,
who will direct "Episode IX," said in a statement.
"Finding a truly satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker saga
without her eluded us. We were never going to recast, or use a
CG (computer-generated) character. With the support and blessing
from her daughter, Billie, we have found a way to honor Carrie’s
legacy and role as Leia in Episode IX by using unseen footage we
shot together in Episode VII," he added, referring to "Force
Awakens."
Disney said after Fisher's death that the script for the
ninth movie was being reworked.
Billy Dee Williams will reprise his role as scoundrel Lando
Calrissian, who was first seen in 1980's "The Empire Strikes
Back" and 1983's "Return of the Jedi," the Disney statement
added.
Williams will join returning cast members Daisy Ridley, Adam
Driver, John Boyega, Lupita Nyong'o and Kelly Marie Tran, the
studio said.
"Episode IX," which has yet to get a formal title, is due to
arrive in movie theaters worldwide in December 2019.
Disney and Lucasfilm announced last year that the release
date for "Episode IX" had been pushed back six months to
December 2019 and that Abrams had been hired to write and direct
after the departure of original director Colin Trevorrow.
The "Star Wars" franchise is among the most valuable film
properties in the world. "The Force Awakens" took in more than
$2 billion at the global box office while "The Last Jedi" raked
in $1.3 billion.