According to USA Today, Disney CEO Bob Iger has stated that Carrie Fisher’s role in Star Wars: The Last Jedi won’t be changed in reaction to her passing.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi will open in theaters on December 15th, 2017. Carrie Fisher’s role as Princess Leia had completed filming for the new film before her passing on December 27, 2016. Her absence won’t be addressed until the untitled Star Wars: Episode IX, which isn’t scheduled to be released in theaters until 2019.
Bob Iger addressed the issue by saying, “Carrie appears throughout VIII. We are not changing VIII to deal with her passing. Her performance remains as it is in VIII.” There was some controversy over whether or not Disney would continue the Princess Leia story as a digital character like they did for some in Rogue One. Iger cleared that up by saying, “In Rogue One, we had some digital (characters). We are not doing that with Carrie.”
Credit: USA Today
