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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker arrived in theaters this weekend, bringing an end to the franchise as we know it. J.J. Abrams was tasked with completing the nine-film narrative that began with A New Hope, and give Carrie Fisher's Leia a proper ending. This was done by utilizing unused footage from the late actress' appearance in The Force Awakens, and it looks like there might be even more footage of Fisher out there.
Carrie Fisher was able to wrap production on both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi before her surprising death in 2016. And when it was announced that she'd still appear in The Rise of Skywalker, J.J. Abrams revealed there was enough unused footage of to craft the character's final outing. But it turns out there is even more of Leia that might pop up through deleted scenes. As The Rise of Skywalker writer Chris Terrio recently explained,
There is stuff out there. It may be on deleted scenes or something, but there are things that didn’t quite make it in, in fact one or two scenes I really liked that didn’t make it in, but to keep the film moving, I totally understand the reasons why those things were cut. But there is certainly other glimpses of Carrie that didn’t make it.
Well, that's intriguing. Carrie Fisher's scenes in The Rise of Skywalker were powerful and bittersweet because of her legacy, so fans would no doubt love to see additional footage that didn't make it into the theatrical cut. But what could they be?
Writing around Carrie Fisher must have been a very specific challenge for Chris Terrior and and co-writer J.J. Abrams. The footage of the late actress/writer was finite, so her scene partners' dialogue needed to be written with the intention of forming an organic conversation. As such, Terrior knows the script well, and can recall additional scenes that didn't make into The Rise of Skywalker. In fact, he was really fond of certain sequences.
Star Wars fans can re-watch the Skywalker Saga on Disney+. You can use this link for a free 7-day trial to the streaming service.
Later in his conversation with The Wrap, Chris Terrio spoke to the process of writing The Rise of Skywalker in order to properly honor Carrie Fisher's performance. As he put it,
Every time you see her speaking, that’s really Carrie speaking. We didn’t use any on-camera lines that she didn’t say. It was important to us that every time Leia says a line, it was really a line that Carrie said and that the way we created the scene around her, her acting intention was relatively intact.
It should be interesting to see what those sequences are, and if they end up being released when Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker arrives for home purchase. It would obviously be expensive to finish the visual effects on said scenes, but it would also give the fans even more time with the beloved late icon Carrie Fisher. Because no one's really ever gone.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is in theaters now. Be sure to check out our 2020 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
