Good News from the Borg*

Lucasfilm has announced that there will not be a CGI version of Princess/General Leia in any future Star Wars films:

In the wake of actor and writer Carrie Fisher’s tragic passing in December, reports about the current Star Wars trilogy have been full of questions and guesses. What exactly should we expect from the popular character of Princess Leia in the remaining two episodes, and how will the film's producers deal with her original actor not being able to complete Leia's plot arc?

Lucasfilm took the unusual step of confirming one major detail about the series’ future on Friday, announcing that the company does not intend to recreate the actor’s persona using digital means.

Telling fans that “we don’t normally respond to fan or press speculation,” Lucasfilm published a statement at the StarWars.com blog confirming that the Disney-owned company "has no plans to digitally recreate Carrie Fisher’s performance as Princess or General Leia Organa.”

The statement, which also paid tribute to the actor ("[we] will always strive to honor everything [Fisher] gave to Star Wars"), doesn’t specify which projects Lucasfilm’s producers may be referring to. Multiple outlets have reported that Fisher had completed her work acting in the upcoming, untitled eighth episode, and many of those outlets published follow-up reports claiming that the character of Leia Organa had been set to play a major role in Episode IX. Without going into specifics, Lucasfilm’s statement clearly isn’t a retroactive one in terms of claiming that the company would never produce a CGI version of Fisher.

Of course, this is NOT a categoral statement, and this IS Disney, and the mouse has been seduced by the Dark Side and delights in violating the Prime Directive,^† at least since the Eisner days, but it appears that for the immediate future at least, we won't see a CGI Carrie Fisher.

Still, we need to keep a close eye on Disney, and J.J. Abrams, and if anyone on the inside gets wind of this, they need to go public, and go all, "Danger, Will Robinson!", on Disney.<sup>‡


*</sup>Yes, I know that I am mixing Star Wars and Star Trek, likely pissing off both groups. This is intentional. I have no life, and I live to screw with all of you.
^†I did say that I was going to f$#@ with all of you, didn't I?
^‡Seriously, I said that I would be f%$#ing with all of you. How much more do I have to do before I become an object of scorn and derision? Seriously, isn't this enough to win me the medals of damnation? Must I put half a dozen children on a spit, and toast them at the flame that comes out of my mouth?^€
€Apologies to Christopher Fry, playwright of The Lady's Not for Burning, but whenever I have the opportunity to use that speech, I will.