When I met Carrie Fisher at last May’s Cannes Film Festival to moderate a panel with her, her beloved French bulldog Gary, and director Fisher Stevens celebrating the World Premiere of their new documentary Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, I had no clue of course that just seven months later both of the title stars of this remarkable film would be gone well before its scheduled debut on HBO in the spring of 2017. Watching it then in stops and starts on my laptop (with the horrible wifi in my hotel room) in order to prep for the panel, I couldn’t turn away from it and was struck by how brutally honest both Carrie and Debbie were in presenting themselves to the world in this way, warts and all. Read More: // here

The deaths of Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher over the past 48 hours have left the team behind the upcoming HBO documentary on the mother and daughter reeling from shock. “Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds” is a chronicle of the extraordinary bond that mother and daughter forged over six decades in the unrelenting glare of showbiz’s spotlight. Documentary vets Fisher Stevens and Alexis Bloom directed the film, which screened in October at the New York Film Festival and before that in May at Cannes. Read More: // here

Actress and writer Carrie Fisher, who rose to prominence for portraying Princess Leia in the “Star Wars” franchise, died Dec. 27 at age 60 . “Star Wars” costar Harrison Ford responded to the news with the following: Read More: // here

If you were a kid in the late seventies, there’s a good chance that you played with an action figure of Carrie Fisher. “Star Wars” was a revelation when it came out, in 1977—it redefined our pop-cultural world, thrillingly, making us feel the way the swashbuckling John Williams title theme sounded. Girls of my generation, and the ones that followed, admired Princess Leia, and identified with her—not just because we loved her but because, like Wonder Woman among the Superfriends, she was the only girl in the gang. (Playing with the action figures, my best friend, a boy, was some combination of Luke, Han Solo, Darth, Chewy, R2-D2, and the Stormtroopers; I was Princess Leia.) Onscreen, Princess Leia was wonderful—a smart, spiky, funny heroine, vulnerable and tough at once, unfazed by her absurd braid buns, not putting up with any mishegas from Luke Skywalker or Han Solo. (“Aren’t you a little short for a Stormtrooper?” she asks Luke, when he comes to rescue her.) As a mythical space heroine, Carrie Fisher read as a real person. As a kid enchanted by all of it, you, even a non-sci-fi-loving girl, could connect to this fanciful outer-space world. Read More: // here

Jamie Lee Curtis is convinced Carrie Fisher’s “spirit and talent” will live on in her actress daughter Billie Lourd. Read More: // here

It’s hard to talk about Carrie Fisher without first remembering her most iconic role: Star Wars’s Princess Leia. But the actress, who passed away today in California, was more than any one part. An enduring presence in Hollywood since childhood as the offspring of Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, Fisher stuck with the glitz and the glamour, surviving scandals, career setbacks, and addictions, eventually emerging as a performer who was both utterly unafraid of the opinions of others and seemingly immune to the film industry’s phoniness. Read More: // here

In the latest in our 10-part series, we run through the films we are most looking forward to next year (in alphabetical order). Today: science fiction
Star Wars: Episode VIII
With Rogue One winning the Christmas race even more comprehensively than predicted, signs are strong Rian Johnson’s latest instalment in the central Skywalker saga will wipe every other movie off the box office next year. Mark Hamill is said to have a slightly larger part this time round (not hard, we know), while Harrison Ford (sorry, spoiler … ) a slightly smaller one. Read More: // here

Debbie Reynolds, who starred opposite Gene Kelly in the 1952 musical Singin’ in the Rain, has died a day after the death of her daughter, Carrie Fisher.

The US actress, 84, had been rushed to hospital with a suspected stroke.

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The iconic actress, 60, died Dec. 27 after suffering a heart attack while onboard a flight from London to Los Angeles on Dec. 23. Here, THR looks back at her performances on both the big and little screen. Read More: // here

From “When Harry Met Sally” to “Scream 3,” the Princess Leia actress transcended all genres. Read More: // here