Taika Waititi's 'Star Wars' Movie Preparing for Scotland Shooting Location

Star Wars fans were elated to find out in May that Taika Waititi was going to be directing a new Star Wars film. His work contributing to the direction and acting of The Mandalorian was so successful that he was given a movie directing role. Ever since then, there have been all sorts of speculation as to what this film could be about or where and when it may take place. However, since Taika Waititi is currently still working with Marvel Studios and writing the script for Thor: Love and Thunder (which starts filming in January), it may be a while before we find out anything more about what the new Star Wars film will be about. From what little has been said, we do know that Taika Waititi is already on the screenwriting process of the new Star Wars film. And in the past week, there has been some more new and exciting news.

Until very recently, all that we knew was that Waititi and crew were scouting out locations for the new Star Wars film. However, new information has come to light. It seems that Waititi is scouting out Scotland for at least three days of shooting according to The Daily Record via GamesRadar. Information was further obtained from The Daily Record that said that this filming could reportedly take place in December.

It should be noted that this is probably not proper filming of the story, but rather acting as location scouting for the film. To try out the different spots. Because of Waititi’s involvement in Thor: Love and Thunder, and the new Star Wars movie, production is still quite a ways away and far too early for any kind of production or real filming to begin.

The Daily Record talked a bit about the project in these quotes.

“It’s great that Star Wars have decided to use Scotland’s breathtaking scenery for some of their first production shots...The film is still a few years away thanks to the COVID crisis but it will be very exciting for fans to hear that the ball has started rolling on this highly anticipated movie.”

The Daily Record then talked a little about the size of the crew and focus of the shoot reportedly taking place in December.

“Filming will take place in the Highlands and will focus on the hills and surrounding areas. It will likely be a small crew and an assistant director heading to Scotland to film over three days. Star Wars is the latest in a long list of films to showcase Scotland and everything this beautiful country has to offer.”

Screen Scotland could not confirm whether or not the new Star Wars film was scouting the Highlands for shooting, although they did mention that the Scottish Highlands “provide a confidential locations service to film and TV productions.”

There are several things that location scouting in Scotland could mean. Since the location scouting in the Scottish Highlands is happening in December, there is a likelihood of snow. However, this is not always necessarily the case, depending on the climate at the time. If there is snow, this could indicate that they are planning on filming some scenes on an ice planet of sorts. If not, then the background will certainly add to the surreal beauty of many of Star Wars planets.

If they are trying to go for snow in the Highlands, then they may be filming something having to do with Hoth or Ilum in the Star Wars canon as they are both ice and snow planets. A specific era has not been defined yet for this film. However, it would be interesting for them to delve into the impact that the Galactic Civil War may have had on Hoth after The Empire Strikes Back. Or, there could be events that happened even before the main Star Wars saga.

Ilum is the location where Cal Kestis retrieves the Kyber crystal for his lightsaber in the video game Jedi: Fallen Order. If Taika Waititi’s film follows a Jedi Order of some sort, then this could be a planet where the character find a Kyber crystal to build a lightsaber.

These are two of the main ice and snow planets in the Star Wars universe. It could be an entirely new planet or a different one. Or, maybe they are not trying to go for snow at all, and it will be for a different planet entirely. There is no guarantee that there will be snow in the Scottish Highlands when they film in December. Whatever the idea was for picking the Scottish Highlands, it will be a beautiful backdrop.

Taika Waititi’s Star Wars film does not have an official release date yet, but we know that the next Star Wars films are currently scheduled for release in December 2023, 2025, and 2027.

Written By Elizabeth Dresdow

Syndicated From Culture Slate