Some Star Wars: Episode VII set photos from Abu Dhabi appeared online about a month ago. Shortly thereafter Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn said it was some second unit photography, and now it seems second unit may become principal photography this coming Tuesday, May 13.
The National has a report and a description of the Abu Dhabi set, which is widely being speculated as a stand-in for Tatooine, home planet of Luke Skywalker.
A “whole world” having been built on an otherworldly salt lake at one location, a “shuttle-like” spacecraft, a large tower, a “big, centuries-old-looking market”, something the crew are reportedly referring to as the “alien house” and 10 to 15 “really fast buggies” powered by jet engines (landspeeders of Tatooine fame from the previous films, perhaps?)
A second report (via Slashfilm) notes crew members carrying “several large white bags of rusted and bent metal parts, which are to be strewn in the desert, possibly to show a spaceÂÂcraft crash or perhaps a post-apocalyptic civilization.”
This second report blends in well with The National saying a large setpiece was created using explosives, creating a crater in the desert.
There are still members of the cast to be announced, but as of now director J.J. Abrams has cast John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson and Max von Sydow along with original cast members Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew and Kenny Baker. The film is set for a December 18, 2015 release.
