In a statement posted on the official Star Wars website, Disney and Lucasfilm are assuring fans that the late Carrie Fisher will not be digitally resurrected via CGI for any future Star Wars films. Fisher passed away at the age of 60 on Dec. 27 last year.

"We don’t normally respond to fan or press speculation, but there is a rumor circulating that we would like to address," the statement reads. "We want to assure our fans that Lucasfilm has no plans to digitally recreate Carrie Fisher’s performance as Princess or General Leia Organa."

"Carrie Fisher was, is, and always will be a part of the Lucasfilm family. 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 honor everything she gave to Star Wars."

The post comes after The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Lucasfilm execs were meeting to determine the fate of Leia in future Star Wars films. While Fisher had completed her scenes for Star Wars: Episode VIII, due out in December this year, she reportedly would have had a bigger and more pivotal role in Star Wars: Episode IX in 2019.

Without the use of Fisher's likeness in Episode IX, Leia would likely either be recast or written out of the last Star Wars film in the new trilogy.

In last year's Star Wars spinoff film, Rogue One, Lucasfilm used CGI to imitate the likeness of the late Peter Cushing, who passed away in 1994. Cushing's face was digitally imposed on a stand-in actor for the role of Grand Moff Tarkin, a character Cushing portrayed in the original 1977 film.

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