"We'll always be with you. No one is ever really gone."
These are the emotional words in an emotional voice-over from Luke Skywalker in the teaser trailer for Star Wars : The Rise of Skywalker which finally arrived thanks to Star Wars Celebration.
The trailer also Star Wars 9: Carrie Fisher footage leaves fans emotional about the posthumous appearance of Carrie Fisher as General Leia Organa, who passed away in December 2016.
The actress will reprise her role via unused footage from The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, and now director J.J. Abrams has discussed her return and how the production wished to handle it, whilst speaking at Star Wars Celebration.
Abrams said: "Carrie was the best, she was glorious, she was amazing. It was impossible - what are you gonna do? You don’t recast that part, and you don’t have her disappear.
"The weird miracle of having a number of scenes that had gone unused… looking at those scenes and understanding there was a way to use those scenes and continue her story."
Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker UK release date, Episode 9 cast, trailer
He revealed that using digital effects to revive Leia for more scenes was never an option.
"The idea of having a CG character was off the table, we’d never want to try.
"So the idea of ‘what if we could work scenes around her’? And emotionally, every day it hits me that she’s not here but it’s so surreal because we’re working with her still."
Star Wars 9: Carrie Fisher footage leaves fans emotional
The director also revealed the emotional impact of her appearance in the film, with Carrie Fisher sharing scenes with real-life daughter Billie Lourd as Lieutenant Connix.
"She’s in scenes, and so alive in the scenes. The craziest part is how not crazy it is.
"In some scenes with Billie [Lourd], her daughter… Princess Leia lives in this film in a way that is kind of mind-blowing to me."
It is going to be emotional viewing for not only fans, but also the cast and crew.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is released in UK cinemas on December 19, 2019.
