Star Wars to start shooting in Abu Dhabi

ABU DHABI: The shooting for space opera film Star Wars: Episode VII is reportedly going to start this week in an Abu Dhabi desert.
It is believed that the shoot is scheduled to begin on May 13 and will run through the end of the month, reported Ace Showbiz.
The Abu Dhabi set is expected to be used for Tatooine, the home world of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker. Some massive scale sets have been built on the location.
Local police and military have been checking all vehicles in the area to prevent tourists from getting anywhere near the sets.
A report from Abu Dhabi’s English newspaper The National says that J.J. Abrams and his Star Wars: Episode VII cast and crew are going to set up camp in the Middle Eastern nation’s desert on Tuesday to film sequences for the upcoming 2015 blockbuster. While the article makes no mention of who among the actors is coming to the set or exactly what they are shooting, it’s said that they will be filming at least until the end of the month. Sources have told the newspaper that crews are just about done with some massive construction work on the production site that includes, “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.”
Some of the movie’s cast members were seen practicing driving the vehicles they will use during the filming around the location.
They will be joined by other cast members including John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson and Max Von Sydow.
The National also adds that the production has been shipping in a lot of explosives and that a “blast crater” has been created, suggesting that the location could be used for a big action sequence. Before you start booking a flight, however, the paper also notes that “police and army are checking all vehicles in the area and making sure that anyone who isn’t supposed to be there is sent quickly on their way.”
JJ Abrams is directing the project based on a screenplay he co-wrote with Lawrence Kasdan. The movie opens worldwide on Dec. 18, 2015.