The late actress Carrie Fisher will be featured in the next Star Wars film, using previously unseen footage that was recorded before her death.
The star, who played Princess Leia, died suddenly from a heart attack aged 60 in December 2016.
Walt Disney Studios said in a statement on Saturday that she will feature in Episode IX using previously unseen clips that were recorded for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
"We desperately loved Carrie Fisher," director J.J. Abrams, who will direct Episode IX, said in a statement.
"Finding a truly satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker saga without her eluded us. We were never going to recast, or use a CG (computer-generated) character."
"With the support and blessing from her daughter, Billie, we have found a way to honour Carrie's legacy and role as Leia in Episode IX by using unseen footage we shot together in Episode VII," he added, referring to Force Awakens.
Actor Mark Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker will also appear in the next film.
Before she died, Fisher had been enjoying a career revival with the re-invigorated Star Wars movie franchise that reunited her with original cast members Hamill and Harrison Ford in the 2015 film Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
She had just finished shooting The Last Jedi and Leia was to have been the central character in the ninth film in the sci-fi franchise, Star Wars: Episode IX.
Disney said after Fisher's death that the script for the ninth movie was being reworked.
Billy Dee Williams will reprise his role as scoundrel Lando Calrissian, who was first seen in 1980's The Empire Strikes Back and 1983's Return of the Jedi, the Disney statement added.
Filming for Episode IX, which has yet to get a formal title, will start in London on August 1. It is scheduled for release in December 2019.
The Star Wars franchise is among the most valuable film properties in the world. The Force Awakens took in more than $US2 billion at the global box office while The Last Jedi raked in $US1.3 billion.
