Star Wars Episode VII Tatooine Shoot to Last Four Weeks

In an update to our previous story about rumors that J.J. Abrams would be recreated the desert planet of Tatooine for shooting as part of Star Wars Episode VII, a new report from The Hollywood Reporter say that the Tatooine shoot will last four weeks. Also of interest is that the filming will not take place in Tunisia, the primary filming location of Tatooine in the previous Star Wars films. Instead, Abrams' production will be filming in and around Abu Dhabi, a city-state member of the United Arab Emirates. The report says the decision to move filming sites was likely influenced by the volatile political climate in Tunisia at this time. Tatooine is one of the most important and most frequently visited planet in the Star Wars films, since it was the childhood home of both Anakin and Luke Skywalker. Some of the original trilogy's most iconic sequences took place on the planet, including Luke and Obi-Wan Kenobi's first meeting with Han Solo and Chewbacca at the Mos Eisley cantina in the original Star Wars and Luke and company's rescue of Han from Jabba's Palace in Return of the Jedi. Star Wars Episode VII is scheduled to arrive in theaters on December 18, 2015.