Carrie Fisher’s Status On STAR WARS EPISODE VIII And Other Upcoming Works

Yesterday the entire entertainment industry, and the family and friends of Carrie Fisher, were sent into mourning as we learned of her passing at age 60 from a heart attack. While the death will be tough to get over, many fans wondered how this will affect Star Wars Episode VIII and IX. We have seen how a movie could be altered after a main cast member’s death in the middle of filming, for example when Paul Walker, the production of Furious 7 used a digitally altered version of Walker to finish the final scene. Was this to be the case for Episode VIII? A source for Variety gives us an update.

Fisher’s work on the eighth film has been completed, and Disney and LucasFilm will not have to address her untimely death until Star Wars Episode IX. Fisher, whoplayed Leia Organa, was listed for the cast in the ninth film of the series but it’s possible that she dies onscreen in VIII and that it was simply a smokescreen. Only time will tell, but I hope that if she had a major role in IX that her death is treated respectably, and not some cheesy contrived “quick end” that will change the story line of the film, but this may be impossible.

Additionally, Fisher had a number of other upcoming or ongoing roles which will be affected.

I mentioned yesterday that she plays Angela, the creepy yet flirtatious boss of the brewery where Peter Griffin works, in Fox’s Family Guy. Her last appearance was on January 3rd from last season, and at this time it is not known if she had plans for future episodes, but one could assume that she would have appeared at some point down the road.

*update* Variety is reporting that Fisher will appear in 2 upcoming Family Guy Episodes.

Fisher also was set to film a role for director Vlad Marsavin in the upcoming movie Wonderwell. He did not immediately issue a statement on her status.

The Amazon/Channel 4 series Catastrophe also had her in a reoccurring role where she will appear in one of the six episodes set to air early next year. She plays the mother of Rob Delaney’s character, and the show has been renewed for a fourth season. Again, no word as of yet on how they will handle her death in future episodes.

Social media blew up yesterday with celebrities and fans giving her tribute, and a book could literally be written just with the comments of sorrow expressed.  Instead of listing some of them, I would rather close with another one of her awesome quotes.

If you have kind words to say about Fisher, I’d love to hear them below.

Source: Variety