I hope it isn’t too soon to talk about this. While I realize Carrie Fisher’s death was one of the most devastating of CelebrityGeddon 2016, I also can’t help thinking about how it will affect the next chapters in the Star Wars saga.
I am of course not privy to how much Leia was planned to figure into the story going forward, though one could reasonably assume it was quite a bit. (Force Awakens spoiler for the 3 of you who haven’t seen it) After a son kills his father, you’d have to think that his mother would be pretty heavily involved in what happens next. No doubt Abrams and company will explain her absence in a way that makes sense; not that there is a choice anyway. It’s just that the next film will surely be different than it otherwise would have been. Please don’t hate me. This saddens me as much as anyone. I find it interesting to speculate, that’s all.
(Let’s say there’s no need to box spoilers from previous films after the OP.)
It’s fortunate that she finished her scenes for 8 because it’s definitely early enough in the process to write her out of 9.
Hell, you don’t even need to disregard her, you can make her an active part of the movie without showing her or having her talk. Just have them reference her.
If Leia is important to the story of episode IX, let them re-cast the role. What would they have done if Fisher had died before Episode VII? It’s no more a slight to Fisher than getting a new James Bond was to Sean Connery.
She probably is important in Episode 8, but Disney knows that they can’t just keep leaning on the old stars. They were probably already planning on scaling them back as the movies went on, anyway.
Total WAG on my part but if they kill Leia off in Episode 8 then that could provide more incentive for Luke. He lost Han and Leia, all of his family, the only thing left is to save Kylo Ren.
Like you said, they have her scenes for episode 8 but I hope they don’t need to do re-shoots of Leia-centric scenes.
I wouldn’t mind a new actress. It worked for Harry Potter. But a lot of fans would lose their shit. They’d probably be better off just writing her out. Maybe a scene with Rey, Finn, and Luke heading to alliance HQ, excited to see her, and they get a message that she passed away suddenly. Their could be a moment of shock and then maybe a two minute long scene where they reminisce. It could be a nice tribute.
I would bet good money that they’ll kill her off in episode 8. No fans will be clamoring for a recast or CGI Leia in episode 9 – they/we would just want her to have as worthy a death as possible.
A bit Ludditish of Cracked. Myself, I’m not only wishing for utterly believable digital actors, but systems so good that you can replace actors on the fly on a whim while watching a movie. See what The Terminator would have looked like with O.J. Simpson or Raiders of the Lost Ark with Tom Selleck (as were actual casting possibilities) or if the mood hits me The Terminator with Lou Costello and Raiders of the Lost Ark with Dakota Fanning.
(Book recommendation time: Remake, by Connie Willis.)
