Carrie Fisher’s brother says JJ Abrams is responsible for featuring the late actress in in ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’.
Despite Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy previously dismissing Todd Fisher’s claims that his sister would appear in the upcoming movie, Disney and Lucasfilm have now revealed that Carrie will feature in the closing instalment of the main movie series, using scenes that had been shot for 2015’s ‘The Force Awakens’ but were previously unreleased.
And Todd says returning director JJ is entirely responsible, explaining to The Hollywood Reporter: "JJ really made this happen."
He also said there were no hard feelings after Kennedy originally denied his story.
He said: "If I was in anyway an inspiration for the final decision to keep Leia a part of the story, that’s great. I must say at times I felt like a voice crying in the wilderness."
Carrie was believed to have made her final outing as Leia Organa in 2017’s ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’, which was released posthumously and was filmed before her untimely death.
However, JJ insisted that her character was needed to complete the saga.
He said: "We desperately loved Carrie Fisher. Finding a truly satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker saga without her eluded us. We were never going to recast, or use a CG character."
The use of Carrie’s unreleased scenes comes after Disney and Lucasfilm insisted early last year they wouldn’t be using CGI to recreate her likeness for the upcoming movie.
They said in a statement: "We want to assure our fans that Lucasfilm has no plans to digitally recreate Carrie Fisher’s performance as Princess or General Leia Organa.
"Carrie Fisher was, is, and always will be a part of the Lucasfilm family. She was our princess, our general, and more importantly, our friend. We are still hurting from her loss. We cherish her memory and legacy as Princess Leia."
Star Wars: Episode IX begins filming August 1 at Pinewood Studios in London.
Carrie Fisher’s brother praises JJ Abrams
