carrie fisher

Unexpected deaths of actors who are part of huge ongoing franchises make things complicated. You want to pay your respects in a decent way, while also, in the best case scenario, keeping the rest of the series afloat without them. Carrie Fisher had finished shooting all of her scenes in Star Wars: Episode VIII before her death in December, but she still apparently has a pretty big role to play in the final installment. How will they keep the story going without actually having her in it? There’s a rumor going around that Disney is thinking of going the Tarkin route.

Without knowing the scope of Carrie Fisher’s role in the upcoming Star Wars sequels, it’s difficult to speculate about how Lucasfilm might address her recent passing. But a new report has uncovered key details (and potential spoilers) regarding General Leia’s narrative arc in Episodes VIII and IX, and reveals that Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy is planning to meet with director Colin Trevorrow next week to contemplate their options for Leia’s role in the forthcoming sequels.

Of all the celebrity deaths in 2016, Carrie Fisher’s might hurt the worst. At 60 years old, she was still a young woman; she should have had many great performances, books, and scripts ahead of her. And with her recent work in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, it seemed like she was finally getting her due as an actor, after years spent in the spotlight as an author and activist.

Carrie Fisher’s General-Princess Leia Organa was such an iconic character, J.J. Abrams knew he had to bring her back for the new trilogy. We knew that she had been cast in Episode VIII, and with her passing today, some wondered whether she had completed all of her production as Leia before her heart attack. But an official from Lucasfilm assured us today that all of her scenes were “absolutely wrapped.”

In what may turn out to be one more giant hardship for 2016, troubling reports are coming in that Star Wars legend and all-around icon Carrie Fisher may be in critical condition. Fisher reportedly suffered a “massive” heart-attack aboard an airplane, and has been rushed to the hospital.

Any Star Wars fan knows that nobody speaks as bluntly about the franchise as Carrie Fisher. While Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill might be counted on for the occasional funny soundbite or bit of interesting backstory, if you really want one of the Star Wars actors to lay their chips on the table, it’s Carrie Fisher you need to listen to. The actress and writer possesses one of the most acerbic wits in all of Hollywood and has never shied away from trying to spin her sense of humor into backdoor Star Wars cannon.

When you’re out promoting a movie, you’re often asked to do a lot of things, most of them pretty silly. With the amount of press the cast of Star Wars: The Force Awakens was being asked to do, there were asked to do a lot of silly things, none perhaps as silly as going on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and singing a medley of Star Wars music a cappella. But the entire cast — including Harrison Ford! — actually commits, and it actually turns out to pretty fun.

The original Star Wars was driven by nostalgia for pulp magazines, Saturday-morning serials, and a simpler era with clear-cut heroes and villains. The new Star Wars is driven by nostalgia for the original Star Wars, and a simpler era when that title evoked words like “adventure” and “excitement,” and not words like “the taxation of trade routes,” and “Jar Jar Binks.” The characters in Star Wars: The Force Awakens are all searching for something of great importance to the galaxy far, far away. I won’t reveal what this MacGuffin is, but I will tell you what it represents: that old Star Wars magic. Can director J.J. Abrams and the rest of the saga’s new creators find it?

Princess Leia is back! She stopped by 'Good Morning America' for an interview on the new movie and brought a special guest. As all reporters do, Carrie must have anticipated some questions about the movie. What better way to keep things a secret than using a dog for help.