No plans to digitally recreate Carrie Fisher in upcoming Star Wars films: Lucasfilm

The makers of Star Wars franchise has said that they have no plans to digitally recreate film performances of the late actor Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the blockbuster series.

The studio behind the Star Wars movie franchise said on Friday it has no plans to digitally recreate film performances of the late actor Carrie Fisher, best known for her role as Princess Leia, in upcoming installments of the blockbuster series.

This April 7, 2011 file photo shows Carrie Fisher at the 2011 NewNowNext Awards in Los Angeles. The Star Wars actor died of a heart attack on December 27, 2016.(AP)

Speculation had mounted since Fisher died unexpectedly last month, at age 60, that filmmakers might use new advances in computer graphics technology to resurrect digital images of the actor in forthcoming chapters of the Star Wars film epic.

Such technology was notably utilized in the newly released Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, in which a digital embodiment of British actor Peter Cushing, who died in 1994, returned for the role of the Grand Moff Tarkin that he first played in the original 1977 Star Wars adventure.

The Walt Disney Co-owned Lucasfilm, producers of the Star Wars franchise, posted a statement online putting to rest the notion that Fisher’s image would likewise be recreated.

“We want to assure our fans that Lucasfilm has no plans to digitally recreate Carrie Fisher’s performance as Princess or General Leia Organa,” the studio said.

A man and his dog walk past a mural depicting Princess Leia from the film Star Wars played by Carrie Fisher in Belfast, Northern Ireland January 11, 2017. (REUTERS)

“Carrie Fisher was, is and always will be part of the Lucasfilm family,” the statement added. “She was our princess, our general and more importantly, our friend. We are still hurting from her loss. We cherish her memory and legacy as Princess Leia, and will always strive to honour everything she gave to ‘Star Wars.’”

Fisher appeared in four of the Star Wars films, beginning with the original 1977 movie and its two sequels, playing the intrepid Princess Leia as a young actor.

She returned in Disney’s 2015 reboot of the franchise, the The Force Awakens, appearing as the more matronly General Leia Organa, leader of the Resistance movement fighting the evil First Order.

In this December 16, 2016 photo, late Carrie Fisher poses for cameras at the European premiere of Star Wars, The Force Awakens in Leicester Square, London. (REUTERS)

She had already filmed her role for the upcoming untitled sequel to that film - Episode VIII - which is due for release in 2017, and had been expected to reappear in Episode IX out in 2019.

The statement by Lucasfilm on Friday left in question whether her character would be written out of that film or another actor would be hired to play the Leia role.

Fisher died following a heart attack she suffered during a flight to Los Angeles from London, where she had been shooting the third season of the British sitcom Catastrophe.

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