10 Apr – If you thought that you've seen the last of late actress Carrie Fisher – who died last December at age 60 – then you've thought wrong. Todd Fisher, the brother to Carrie Fisher, told New York Daily News that he and his niece, Carrie Fisher's daughter Billie Lourd, have granted Disney rights to use recent footage of the late Princess Leia for "Star Wars: Episode IX". "Both of us were like, 'Yes, how do you take her out of it?'," said Todd at the opening night gala of the TCM Film Festival in Los Angeles. "And the answer is you don't."
This means that the studio will not be using CGI for Princess Leia's appearances, unlike with last year's "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" when they used CGI to create a younger version of Princess Leia and to bring back the late Peter Cushing's character, Grand Moff Tarkin. Though she had been reported to have finished filming her scenes in "Star Wars: Episode IX" before her death, there was much speculation on how Princess or General Leia Organa would figure in the film. But Disney has promised not to digitally recreate her and instead – now with her family's consent – to use the already filmed footage of her as they did in "Star Wars: The Last Jedi". The actress passed away on 27 December 2016 in Los Angeles, California, and her mother, actress Debbie Reynolds, died the following day. Before we see Carrie Fisher's posthumous role as Princess Leia in "Star Wars Episode IX", catch the late actress in "Star Wars: The Last Jedi", opening in cinemas in December 2017.