Disney CEO Bob Iger hinted that Princess Leia survives the next “Star Wars” — and assured they won’t tinker with the movie’s storyline in the wake of Carrie Fisher’s death.
“We had to deal with tragedy at the end of 2016. Carrie appears throughout ‘VIII.’ We are not changing ‘VIII’ to deal with her passing,” Iger said at a press event Thursday after Disney announced his contract was extended through July 2019, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“Her performance remains as it is in VIII,” he continued. “In Rogue One, we had some digital character. We are not doing that with Carrie.”
Filming for this December’s “The Last Jedi” — also known as “Episode VIII” — had already been completed when Fisher, who plays Leia, died at the age of 60 last December days after suffering a heart attack during a flight.
Fans continue to wonder how the makers of “Star Wars” will address her absence in 2019’s “Episode IX” — the final part in the franchise’s latest trilogy — which led many to speculate that Disney may have to update the script of this year’s film.
But apparently they’ll handle the situation entirely in “Episode IX” instead, and leave “The Last Jedi” as is. Leia was originally expected to have a larger role in the 2019 movie than in this December’s flick, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Iger also announced during Thursday’s talk that his company will continue to take fans back to a galaxy far, far away long after the 2019 movie blasts into theaters.
“We’re starting talk about what could happen after ‘Episode IX.’ About what could be another decade-and-a-half of Star Wars stories,” he said at the event in Santa Monica, Calif.
A standalone movie — an untitled film about Han Solo in his youth — is set to premiere in between “VIII” and “IX.”
Iger supplied new details about that highly secretive project as well Thursday, revealing the movie features Solo (portrayed by Alden Ehrenreich) meeting his trusty Wookie sidekick Chewbacca and shows him discovering his Millennium Falcon spacecraft for the first time.
“The Last Jedi” is due out Dec. 15.
