Contrary to reports, Carrie Fisher will not appear in Star Wars: Episode IX

After widespread reports last weekend that Carrie Fisher’s family gave Lucasfilm the go-ahead for the late actress to appear in 2019’s Episode IX, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has told ABC News that Fisher will not be part of the film.

“Sadly, Carrie will not be in [Episode 9],‘” Kennedy said, “But we will see a lot of Carrie in [The Last Jedi].’” She said Fisher’s brother, Todd, likely mixed up the films when he spoke last weekend. “We finished everything in [The Last Jedi],” Kennedy explained, “and Carrie is absolutely phenomenal in the movie.”

Kennedy says that at the time of Fisher’s death, Lucasfilm had a good idea of what would happen in Episode IX, but that the script for the film had not yet been written. With her death, the team regrouped and started over in January 2017. A draft for the film has been completed, according to Trevorrow.

Following Fisher’s death in December 2016, Lucasfilm said it would not use CGI to recreate General Organa in the final film, as it did to recreate a younger Princess Leia in Rogue One.