It's sadly official: the late Carrie Fisher will not appear in the upcoming Star Wars: Episode IX.
Although Carrie tragically died last December, her brother Todd recently made so many Star Wars fans across the galaxy happy by confirming that he'd given Lucasfilm permission to use the Leia character in 2019's Episode IX.
However, it doesn't seem as if Lucasfilm will ultimately go down that road — as Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy revealed at the Star Wars Celebration on Friday (April 14).
"[Carrie's brother] was probably confused," Kennedy told ABC News. "We've finished everything in [Episode VIII: The Last Jedi] 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 by the time we were well underway with Episode IX in our thoughts.
"We had not written the script yet, but we've regrouped and started over again in January. Sadly, Carrie will not be in IX. We'll see a lot of her in VIII, which is great."
(Leia in The Last Jedi trailer)
Note that Kennedy specifies that Carrie Fisher wouldn't be in Episode IX without actually mentioning the character of General Leia at all.
Recasting a role as iconic as General Leia seems highly unlikely (to say the very least), but it is at least possible that Lucasfilm could find a way to include the character even without new footage of Carrie Fisher.
The younger Leia was already digitally recreated for a key scene in last year's blockbuster Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, although Lucasfilm has ruled out doing so again.
"We want to assure our fans that Lucasfilm has no plans to digitally recreate Carrie Fisher's performance as Princess or General Leia Organa," the company said in a statement in January.
"Carrie Fisher was, is, and always will be a part of the Lucasfilm family. She was our princess, our general, and more importantly, our friend. We are still hurting from her loss. We cherish her memory and legacy as Princess Leia, and will always strive to honour everything she gave to Star Wars."
The actress was remembered as "one in a billion" by Star Wars creator George Lucas during the franchise's 40th anniversary reunion panel on Thursday — where a beautiful new tribute was also shown for the very first time.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens in US and UK cinemas on December 15. Watch the first trailer below:
