When Lucasfilm sent out the press release that announced the casting for Star Wars: Episode IX, we surprisingly learned that Carrie Fisher would be in the film. This is made possible thanks to some unused footage that was shot in the previously made Star Wars movies.

When director J.J. Abrams initially talked about using the unused footage of Carrie Fisher, he only mentioned footage from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Here’s that statement:

“We desperately loved Carrie Fisher. Finding a truly satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker saga without her eluded us. We were never going to recast, or use a CG 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.”

Now we’ve learned that there will also be unused footage from Rian Johnson‘s Star Wars: The Last Jedi. I just assumed we would only see a few of minutes of footage of Leia in Episode IX, but apparently, there’s going to be more of her than we thought, which is great! 

The information came from ABC News’ Clayton Sandell, who heard it from Carrie’s brother Todd. He explained:

“I talked to Todd Fisher today about all of this and he has been talking with J. J. Abrams about it. I asked him, because the press release only said The Force Awakens so I asked about The Last Jedi, and they are also using unused footage from The Last Jedi. I asked him how many minutes of footage they had from it and he said ‘I can’t tell you that!’

“He (Todd Fisher) said there were big surprises coming – big surprises with this movie, this performance, and the unused footage – and said – this one is really for the fans.

“But they apparently have a number of unused minutes from both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi.

“Todd and the whole family are very excited and wanted it to happen.”

This is so good to hear as this footage can be used to help give Fisher a proper send-off in the Star Wars franchise. I’m really curious to know how this unused footage will be implemented and where they will take the character in the upcoming film. I’m just happy that Abrams found a way to utilize her in the story.

What do you hope to see from Leia’s story arc in Episode IX?

The movie opens on December 20, 2019.

Via: Star Wars News