Kennedy, Johnson Share Memories Of Carrie Fisher, Reveal Last Jedi Details

The second day of Star Wars Celebration did not waste time getting to sharing more memories of the iconic, timeless, and inspiration, Carrie Fisher.

It quickly shifted to a discussion of her role in the upcoming Star Wars: The Last Jedi film, as both Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy as well as writer/director Rian Johnson discussed how the film will deal with the story as well as the lasting legacy of Fisher, and Leia, after the actress sadly passed away in December.

“It was extraordinary, needless to say,” Kennedy said. “Carrie is remarkable in the movie. What Rian wrote and the performance she ends up giving, I think you guys are going to find that an amazing tribute to her talent.”

During the 40th Anniversary panel at Star Wars Celebration Orlando on Friday, a touching film tribute to the late Fisher was presented to fans.

The footage showed some of the actress’ finest moments, but also included some that no one was expecting — the first glimpse at Princess Leia in the upcoming film, Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

What Johnson will do with the story still is somewhat mysterious, but he addressed where it went and how it got there.

“It was such a moving tribute yesterday,” Johnson said. “I love her so much, man, I just adore her. I connected with her first and foremost as a writer.”

“I’d go to her house, we’d sit on her bed for hours and just go through the script and just have this stream of consciousness, ad lib sessions,” the director remembers. “There would be a four word line of dialogue that would be the distillation of all of that that would be like, ‘Brilliant!’”

Star Wars: The Last Jedi, from writer/director Rian Johnson, is in post-production now for a December 15, 2017 release. The film follows-up and continues the story of the next generation of the saga as Rey, Poe, Finn, and Kylo Ren find their place in the galaxy and follow the legacy of Luke Skywalker, Leia, and Han Solo. Daisy Ridley returns to star as Rey, with other returning stars John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson, Gwendoline Christie, Peter Mayhew, Andy Serkis, Anthony Daniels, Lupita Nyong’o Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher as General Leia Organa. Benicio Del Toro and Laura Dern join the cast in as-yet-unrevealed roles.

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