BBC Newsnight earlier this evening (watch it here) revealed that, despite the death of Carrie Fisher last month, we may see her on the screen again, even after Star Wars Episode VIII, which we know she had finished filming before her untimely death.
The programme reported that Disney are currently in discussions with Fisher’s estate to use her likeness moving forward.
Here’s what they had to say:
Carrie Fisher died less than a fortnight ago, but in the minds of Disney movie moguls and Star Wars fans, she’s very much alive. And with what might be regarded as unseemly haste, Disney is negotiating with the actor’s estate over her continued appearance in the franchise.
If Disney gets the go-ahead, Carrie Fisher will join Peter Cushing, who, last month, fifteen years after his death, played a key role in Rogue One as Grand Moff Tarkin. With computers, anything is possible, but is it desirable? While some living actors are contracting over the use of their image when they die, others, like Robin Williams, who killed himself in 2014, explicitly banned the commercial use of his image until 2039.
Now, our first thought was that they wanted permission to keep making merchandise featuring Fisher, such as action figures, comics, lunchboxes etc.
However…
The comparison to Peter Cushing has us thinking that perhaps they are hoping to, through motion capture and CGI, have Princess Leia carry on in the movies posthumously.
This leads on from reports last week that a meeting was to be held discussing Leia’s future in Star Wars, given that Episode IX was apparently set to be a big one for her character (here).
Whatever the outcome, we get the feeling, good or bad, Carrie Fisher – or more accurately Princess Leia – is going to be around for a long, long time.
What do you think? Let us know…
Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
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