Colin Trevorrow Reveals How ‘Star Wars 9’ Will Honor Carrie Fisher

Star Wars 9 director Colin Trevorrow has confirmed that the upcoming blockbuster will honor and pay tribute to Carrie Fisher, who iconically played Princess Leia throughout the beloved sci-fi series. Carrie Fisher died at the age of 60 in December, a tragedy that forced Colin Trevorrow and his creative film to drastically alter Star Wars 9 as she was supposed to play a major role in the film.

“She had a major role in the film and it’s something we had to deal with emotionally at first. Now we’ve had to deal with it in very practical ways and in a form of storytelling we know is going to honor her and keep her soul alive, but it is an unfortunate reality that we’re just going to have to handle.”

Carrie Fisher originally experienced a medical emergency onboard a transatlantic flight from London to Los Angeles on December 23, 2016. Following four days in intensive care, Carrie Fisher succumbed on December 27.

Colin Trevorrow made the above comments regarding Carrie Fisher to the Irish Examiner while out promoting his latest release The Book Of The Henry. Shortly after Carrie Fisher’s death, it was confirmed that the actress had indeed finished shooting all of her scenes for Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Currently, it is still hard to know exactly how the ninth installment to the Star Wars Skywalker saga will both pay tribute and honor Carrie Fisher, considering that its immediate predecessor Star Wars: The Last Jedi hasn’t even been released into cinemas yet. The Last Jedi will finally make its way into cinemas at the end of this year on December 15, and its release is set to be a highly emotional experience for viewers as it will give them the perfectly opportunity to bid farewell to both Carrie Fisher and the character of Princess Leia.

In the immediate aftermath of Carrie Fisher’s death, there were premature rumors that Lucasfilm might try to digitally recreate the actress’ likeness in future Star Wars films, something that the franchise had achieved huge success with in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. However, Kathleen Kennedy, Lucasfilm’s president, quickly put this speculation to bed, as she insisted that it wouldn’t be right to do so.

Over the last few months it has emerged that the original plan for the new trilogy of Star Wars films was to focus on each of Harrison Ford’s Han Solo, Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker, and then Carrie Fisher’s General Leia Organa. Fisher’s death has obviously changed that plan, but we’ll have to wait until May 24, 2019, to see how Colin Trevorrow adjusts Star Wars 9 accordingly.

[Featured Image by Lucasfilm]