The Late Carrie Fisher's General Leia Was Originally Going To Be The Main Focus Of STAR WARS: EPISODE IX
We knew the the script for Star Wars: Episode IX was going to have to be reworked following Carrie Fisher's passing, but it seems those changes may have been more extensive than we first realized...
After the initial shock of Carrie Fisher's tragic death last year, thoughts turned to how the main Star Wars saga would continue without her. It was quickly confirmed that the actress had completed filming her scenes for The Last Jedi, but it also became clear that plans for the final installment in the new trilogy, the still untitled Episode IX, were going to need to be altered significantly.
As part of their extensive coverage of The Last Jedi, Vanity Fair spoke with Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy about the current status of the Episode IX, and she revealed that it was originally going to be more Leia-centric than we first realized.
“She was having a blast," said Kennedy of Fisher's time shooting The Last Jedi. "The minute she finished, she grabbed me and said, ‘I’d better be at the forefront of IX!’ Because Harrison was front and center on VII, and Mark is front and center on VIII. She thought IX would be her movie. And it would have been."
It's a shame we won't get to find out what that film would have looked like, but Fisher and her iconic character will no doubt be given a proper send off in The Last Jedi this December.