Star Wars Carrie Fisher
Carrie Fisher in costume for a Star Wars Vanity Fair cover shoot. Vanity Fair

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is going to be huge for a number of obvious reasons. It's Star Wars, it's the sequel to the third highest-grossing film of all time, and it will be the last big screen appearance of late actress Carrie Fisher.

The legendary Fisher will reprise her role as Leia Organa in The Last Jedi, having completed filming last year before her untimely death on 27 December, one day before her mother Debbie Reynolds also passed away.

Ahead of The Last Jedi's anticipated release, actor John Boyega has discussed working with the actress, promising she will be given an "amazing" send-off.

"We have many scenes in [Star Wars] 8, in this one coming up," he told ABC News' Popcorn with Peter Travers. "This movie, it sends her off in an amazing, amazing way.

"She's still kept alive in this franchise and that's the beauty of it. She lives forever in a sense."

Boyega, who plays First Order Stormtrooper turned Resistance fighter Finn, is involved in a plotline that will see him and new character Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) go undercover for Resistance leader General Leia.

Very little is known about the film's plot, other than this and the fact it will pick up from 2015's The Force Awakens with the very first meeting between Mark Hamill's Luke Skywalker and Daisy Ridley's Rey.

It's not clear if Boyega's comments mean Fisher's character will be kept alive off-screen in the series. It's most likely however, that he's talking about the actor's legacy.

It was confirmed earlier this year by LucasFilm president Kathleen Kennedy that Fisher would not appear in 2019's Episode 9 through either previously-filmed footage or CGI.

Carrie Fisher played Leia in the original trilogy (1977 - 1983) of Star Wars films, returning for 2015's The Force Awakens. Prior to her return to the franchise, she became a best-selling author. The last of her memoirs, The Princess Diarist, was released shortly before her death.

In other Star Wars news, the film's ninth instalment, set for release in 2019, has a new writer (via The Hollywood Reporter). Brit Jack Thorne has been hired to rewrite the script penned by director Colin Trevorrow and writing partner Derek Connolly.

Thorne has a storied career in television, on the silver screen and on stage, with work including the This is England TV shows and West End hit Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. He's also written the script for upcoming Julia Roberts' film Wonder, based on the New York Times bestseller.

Directed by Rian Johnson and starring Boyega, Ridley, Hamill, Fisher, Tran, Adam Driver, Oscar Issac, Andy Serkis, Lupita Nyong'o, Laura Dern and Benecio del Toro, Star Wars: The Last Jedi is set to release on 14 December 2017.

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