Amidst all the excitement of Star Wars Celebration and the arrival of the first teaser for The Last Jedi, there was some more sobering news, as the franchise's executive producer Kathleen Kennedy shot down word that Carrie Fisher will be appearing as General Leia Organa in Star Wars: Episode IX, officially disputing claims by Fisher's brother, Todd.
Todd Fisher had previously said he'd given permission for Disney and Lucasfilm to use additional footage of his sister in the next of the main films, but according to Kennedy, all of her work has been used for The Last Jedi. After her tragic death this past December, the Star Wars story team had to figure out a way to handle her absence in Episode IX.
That film, to be co-written and director by Colin Trevorrow, will be with us in 2019. And, according to Kennedy, there will be plenty of Fisher to be found in The Last Jedi, which arrives on 15 December.