'Star Wars: Episode 8': Story Won't Change to Address Carrie Fisher's Passing, Says Disney CEO
Disney CEO Bob Iger recently spoke about the upcoming Han Solo spin-off and what happens to the "Star Wars" film franchise after "Star Wars: Episode 9." He also pointed out that Lucasfilm will not be changing the story of "Star Wars: Episode 8 — The Last Jedi" to deal with the recent passing of iconic "Star Wars" actress Carrie Fisher.
"We're starting talk about what could happen after 'Episode IX.' About what could be another decade-and-a-half of 'Star Wars' stories," Iger said, speaking at a USC tech conference in Santa Monica on Thursday, March 23.
"When we bought Lucasfilm, we were going to make three films — 'Episodes VII, VIII and IX,'" he explained. "We had to deal with tragedy at the end of 2016. Carrie appears throughout 'VIII.' We are not changing 'VIII' to deal with her passing. Her performance remains as it is in 'VIII.' In 'Rogue One,' we had some digital character. We are not doing that with Carrie."
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Aside from their plans with the "Star Wars" franchise, the executive also revealed new details about the young Han Solo spin-off movie. The upcoming movie will cover Han's (portrayed by Alden Ehrenreich) life from age 18 to 24. The audience will also get to see how he meets Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) and how he will get his hands on his ship, the Millennium Falcon.
It was also announced recently that Disney has extended Iger's tenure as CEO until July 2, 2019. Iger shared that when he leaves the company, he wants to make sure Disney will be left "in a good position for my successor, whoever that is."
"Succession is a complicated thing. We [the board] felt we wanted to spend more time on succession... and we mutually agreed to another year," he added.
"The Last Jedi" is scheduled to hit theaters later this year, while the Han Solo spin-off film is scheduled to be released in 2018.
