Is recasting Leia for Episode IX out of the question?

[Mr. Laser Beam]

TPTB have already said that Leia will not be recreated via CGI (like Tarkin in Rogue One). Has the option of simply recasting her also been officially shot down?

I mean, I assume that they would not do it (and I also hope they won't), I'm just wondering if anyone from the studio has gone on official record confirming that a recast is off the table.

 

[EnsignRicky]

That could be considered in bad taste and I don't think Disney would want to take that chance to the dance. It's more than likely the next movie will jump ahead a decade or so and involve some variation on the Knights of Ren versus the Knights of Rey; And if Leia is even mentioned at all, it would only be in passing. Probably even as having passed.

Well, that's what I think anyway.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Yes, it's out of the question.

Next?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Yes, it's out of the question.

Well, yeah, I'm sure most SW fans (myself included) would balk at it, I was just curious as to whether the official word from the studio has ruled it out as well, just like they have already shot down the CGI option.

 

[Reverend]

Yes.

End of thread.

 

[David cgc]

Personally, I think there's a decent chance of her appearing as a silent Force Ghost, a la the end of RotJ. It's ruled out by a strict interpretation of "no digi-double," but they can get around that. It feels like half the big-budget VFX movies these days are advertised as having been filmed live on location in space, until a month after release when the embargo lifts and, shocker, it turns half the film was pick-ups shot on greenscreen in the star's bathroom. "No, we didn't CG Carrie Fisher for her five-second silent cameo, because [bullshit]."

 

[Relayer1]

Yes, it's out of the question.

This.

 

[Greylock Crescent]

I don't think they will. And I'm really not sure how such a move would work, honestly. But I'm not opposed to the idea in principle.

 

[ALF]

Kathleen Kennedy is on record as saying that they wouldn't re-create Carrie Fisher in any way past Episode 8. As far as the story is concerned, they "started over." I know CGI =/= recasting but the spirit of Disney's will to leave Leia to rest seems sure because of the starting over of the story.

http://ew.com/movies/2017/04/14/kathleen-kennedy-episode-ix-carrie-fisher-death/

https://www.cinemablend.com/news/16...pisode-9-kathleen-kennedy-clears-up-the-rumor

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/h...ucasfilm-started-carrie-fishers-death-1000408

Does anyone have an actress in mind that could come close to portraying General Leia in episode IX?

 

[Mach5]

I'm not interested in seeing a new Leia past Episode VIII. A younger actress in some prequel taking place many years before ANH isn't necessarily out of the question, though.

 

[LJones41]

Why didn't Lucafilm and Johnson make changes regarding Leia's character, following Carrie Fisher's death? They had a year to do something.

 

[Prax]

CG Leia already showed up in episode 8. why not bring her back in episode 9?

Also, there might be unused footage from the episode 7 and 8 that could be "strategically" placed in episode 9.

 

[Timby]

Why didn't Lucafilm and Johnson make changes regarding Leia's character, following Carrie Fisher's death? They had a year to do something.

Because Fisher died before she was able to record any ADR, and if you don't have additional footage / material of someone, there's only so much you can do besides trim--and beyond that, Johnson has said that pretty much everything Fisher shot is in the finished product. I mean, say Leia were to die in the attack on the carrier. You'd first need to rewrite a shit-ton of the material for that arc of the movie, then need to bring everyone back for substantial re-shooting, which would get very expensive very quickly (to say nothing of actors' availability; Isaac was busy working on Annihilation and Life Itself, while Laura Dern was shooting Twin Peaks), and then you'd need to rewrite everything on Crait, too.

In any event, no, there's no way in hell they're ever going to re-cast Carrie Fisher. Episode IX will either begin with Leia's funeral or she will be long dead by the time the film starts.

 

[Reverend]

CG Leia already showed up in episode 8. why not bring her back in episode 9?

Because: no.

 

[JD]

Episode IX will either begin with Leia's funeral or she will be long dead by the time the film starts.

I still say there's a chance they could leave her alive and just off somewhere else during IX. If Poe takes a bigger leadership role in the field, then she could just be off at some base running things, or possibly off recruiting new allies.

 

[The Wormhole]

Why didn't Lucafilm and Johnson make changes regarding Leia's character, following Carrie Fisher's death? They had a year to do something.

Why should they have? From a practical point of view, it made more sense to alter plans for Episode IX, which was still only in the script-writing stage, than it did to re-write and re-film a movie that was about to go into post-production.

 

[JD]

Yeah, I really don't see where that would have been necessary. She had finished filming all of her scenes, or at least the vast majority of them, so there was no need to make changes. The only time I really see something like that being necessary is when the actor dies before they film all of their scenes, like Paul Walker in the Fast and Furious movie, and Brandon Lee in The Crow.

 

[Gaith]

I don't think they will. And I'm really not sure how such a move would work, honestly. But I'm not opposed to the idea in principle.

Neither am I, and before I saw TLJ I thought a recasting might be appropriate, but, given the movie's overtly stated theme (from Kylo, Luke and Yoda) was Moving On/Letting Go, I can't see that bringing the character back with a new actress would be worth the awkwardness.

 

[Greylock Crescent]

^ Good point about the thematic angle.

 

[ALF]

Recasting Leia for 9 would have rounded out the original ST theme but it sounds like we'll be getting something different. Maybe they'll double down on the Kylo Ren "letting go" theme.

It's just such a shame because 8 could have easily been Leia's movie - just take out the Leia Poppins spacewalk and she's healthy throughout the whole film. The good news is that we do see her off in a beautiful way. I love the final shot on the Falcon with Rey and Leia and the rest of the survivors: How do we build a rebellion from this? / We have everything we need. That's wonderful.

I think the most tasteful way to address Leia's absence from episode 9 is a nice, long time skip between 8 and 9. Let there be two or three years of Leia passing her knowledge on to Rey, Finn, Poe, etc as they rebuild the rebellion and continue to strike against the First Order. When episode 9 begins Leia has passed but our heroes have all been influenced by her - and we get to see that in the story. That might be satisfying to watch.