Lucasfilm have announced that they are completely ruling out the prospect of digitally resurrecting Carrie Fisher to make a CGI clone of Princess Leia in “Star Wars Episode IX” (technically General Leia by “Episode IX”), which would make the process of altering the Film to accommodate her tragic and sudden passing in December a lot easier. However, they’re not doing it, as it would be disrespectful and audiences will give them the benefit of the doubt if her absence makes the film feel disjointed, since we all know what happened.

Lucasfilm released a statement on the official ‘Star Wars’ website

The statement released by Lucasfilm said that they wish to “assure our fans that Lucasfilm has no plans to digitally recreate Carrie Fisher’s performance as Princess or General Leia Organa.” This was a technique used in the recent spin-off/prequel “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” to bring back deceased actor Peter Cushing’s character Grand Moff Tarkin and Leia (who was simply made younger as Fisher was still alive during the production of “Rogue One”).

However, the technique was met with controversy from some critics, who weren’t fans of this method. The Guardian called it a “digital indignity” and raised some ethical problems with this practice, despite approval from Cushing’s estate.

The Washington Times called it “an approximation of a simulation,” while USA Today called it “unnerving” and “jarring.” While Fisher is reported to have “loved” her digitally reverse-aged self in “Rogue One,” her death makes it a whole new situation now.

This confirmation quashes recent rumours

Lucasfilm were pushed to officially announce that they have no intentions of digitally recreating Carrie Fisher as rumours were circulating that they would.

The rumours arose from the news that while “Episode VIII” (which is still yet to be titled) has wrapped and all of Fisher’s scenes are in the bag, its ending sets Leia up for a much larger role to play in “Episode IX,” none of which is shot yet.

But it appears Lucasfilm will be finding another way around this story problem (probably with a script rewrite), as they deem a Cushing-style digital resurrection of Fisher disrespectful to one of their most legendary teammates. The statement added: “Carrie Fisher was, is, and always will be a part of the Lucasfilm family.”
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