Following Carrie Fisher's tragic death in December last year, questions were raised as to what would happen to the role of General Leia Organa in the third of the new Star Wars films, Episode IX. Now her brother, Todd Fisher, has said he's given approval to use extra footage of her to include the character in the new film.
There is no indication yet as to what extent Leia will appear in Episode IX, which Colin Trevorrow is writing and directing, and scheduled to kick off production on this year for a 2019 release. Disney has previously said that CGI won't be used to portray her in the way that her younger self was placed in Rogue One, or how the late Paul Walker's role was completed (with the help of his brothers) on Fast & Furious 7. But there may still need to be some digital magic to make everything work.
Talking with the New York Daily News, Todd says that he and Fisher's daughter Billie Lourd (who appears with her mother in The Force Awakens) have granted the studio rights to use recent footage of her in some capacity. "Both of us were like, 'Yes, how do you take her out of it?'' And the answer is you don't," said Fisher. "She’s as much a part of it as anything and I think her presence now is even more powerful than it was, like Obi Wan — when the saber cuts him down he becomes more powerful. I feel like that's what's happened with Carrie. I think the legacy should continue."
Fisher – and Leia – will most certainly be on screen for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, headed here on 15 December.