“I happen to know that George didn’t kill Luke until the end of [Episode] 9, after he trained Leia. Which is another thread that was never played upon [in The Last Jedi].”
If you weren’t a fan of the way director Rian Johnson handled the answer to Rey’s origin in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, you’ll be happy to know that that’s not the final word. In a recent interview with HuffPost, the director talks about why he took this aspect of the story in the direction that he did and also says the real truth behind Rey’s parentage is still open.
Following the announcement earlier today that J.J. Abrams will be stepping in to direct the upcoming Star Wars: Episode IX, Lucasfilm has revealed that the final chapter in the new trilogy has officially been delayed.
Previously set for a May 24, 2019 release date, the film will now arrive on December 20, 2019, with the live-action Aladdin taking Episode IX‘s original date of May 24. Episode IX is now scheduled to open up against the long in-development Wicked movie from Universal Pictures, and just one week after the upcoming Wonder Woman sequel.
Abrams will direct the film and co-write the script with Chris Terrio (Justice League, Argo). Star Wars: Episode IX will be produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Michelle Rejwan, Abrams, Bad Robot, and Lucasfilm.
The characters from Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Episode IX can next be seen in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, opening in theaters on December 15. Written and directed by Rian Johnson (Brick, Looper), the film continues the storylines introduced in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, welcoming back cast members Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, the late Carrie Fisher as General Leia Organa, Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, Daisy Ridley as Rey, John Boyega as Finn, Lupita Nyong’o as Maz Kanata, Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron, Domhnall Gleeson as Hux, Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, Gwendoline Christie as Captain Phasma, and Andy Serkis as Supreme Leader Snoke. New cast members will include Academy Award winner Benicio Del Toro, Academy Award nominee Laura Dern, and newcomer Kelly Marie Tran as Rose.
The passing of Carrie Fisher was something no one expected, but when we lost our princess, it was quite clear that Lucasfilm would have to make some major adjustments. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said after they mourned Fisher’s passing, the story team and filmmakers scrambled to come up with a plan to handle Fisher’s absence in Episode IX:
“Obviously, with Carrie having passed away, it shook everybody,” Kennedy says. As they tried to figure out what this meant for Leia’s continuing story, the only option was to leave their original ideas behind. “We pretty much started over,”
Fisher had finished all her scenes on The Last Jedi before her untimely death, and Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger has since said that the movie will not be changed to deal with her passing. The Last Jedi will end as it was originally planned. StarWars.com also confirmed that Lucasfilm will not digitally recreate Leia in any way. Kennedy also recently told Good Morning America: “Sadly, Carrie will not be in nine,” Kennedy said. “But we will see a lot of Carrie in eight.”
It seems pretty safe to assume that The Last Jedi will be Princess or General Leia Organa’s final appearance in the Star Wars cinematic saga. I wonder if Lucasfilm will ever let us know what they were hoping Leia’s role in Episode IX would be. Or maybe we’ll eventually get a Star Wars story standalone about a young Princess Leia, only time will tell. What do you guys think?
Last week Carrie Fisher‘s brother, Todd FIsher, said that Carrie would appear in Star Wars: Episode IX. He and Carrie’s daughter Billie Lourd thought:
“Yes, how do you take her out of it?’ And the answer is, you don’t. I’m not the only part in that equation, but I think the people deserve to have her. She’s owned by them.”
When Carrie Fisher passed away late last year, there was a lot of speculation about whether or not she’d appear in some way in Star Wars: Episode IX. Her role in the upcoming Star Wars: The Last Jedi had been completed before her death, but the next film had not yet begun shooting. Her brother Todd Fisher told The New York Daily News that he and Fisher’s daughter Billie Lourd have given Disney and Lucasfilm permission to use recent footage of Carrie Fisher in Star Wars: Episode IX.
Over the last week, rumors have surfaced that Lucasfilm was in talks with the estate of Carrie Fisher to possibly digitally recreate the late actress for Star Wars: Episode IX (she had already finished filming her scenes for Star Wars: Episode VIII before her death on December 27, 2016). In a rare case, Lucasfilm has put those rumors to rest with the following official statement: Continue reading
Today at D23, Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn announced that writer-director Colin Trevorrow will direct Star Wars: Episode IX, which is set for release in 2019.While production won’t begin for a few years, Trevorrow is heading to Lucasfilm this year to begin working with artists and his fellow Star Wars directors. Continue reading
