For almost a year, Star Wars fans assumed that the Abu Dhabi desert would be standing in for Luke Skywalker's sandy home planet of Tatooine in the forthcoming Episode VII: The Force Awakens.
In April, however, at the Star Wars Celebration event in Anaheim, where the latest trailer premièred, we learnt that the capital would actually be doubling for an entirely new planet, Jakku, which is home to Daisy Ridley’s character, Rey, and possibly John Boyega’s Finn.
So, as we count down the months to the movie’s release in December, here is a round-up of the latest facts, rumours and random titbits that have emerged about Abu Dhabi’s starring role in the film in the last couple of months.
It seems that a huge battle took place on Jakku, judging by the amount of scrap military equipment littering the desert planet. Rey apparently lives in an abandoned AT-AT, and we see in the trailer that a huge Imperial Star Destroyer crash-landed on the planet at some point. Rey also apparently makes a living as a scrap merchant and collects Jedi relics.
According to fans online, the surviving crew of the imperial star destroyer (that’s potentially a lot of people, bearing in mind those spaceships can be up to 10 miles long) have formed communities on the new planet (is Finn among them?) and they are understandably hostile to the new world order following the fall of the empire.
Entire communities are rumoured to live inside the wreckage of the vessel, which has grown into a hub for trading for the surrounding system.
Rey is said to have detailed knowledge of the vessel’s interior, since she regularly collects scrap from inside the giant craft. This could come in handy when, as we saw in the trailer, the Millennium Falcon (piloted by Han Solo, who is rumoured to be Finn’s father) enters the belly of the craft.
The new droid, BB-8, which we saw rolling through the desert like a football in the trailer, is said to be carrying Luke Skywalker’s lightsabre. According to reports, Gwendoline Christie’s character, Captain Phasma, is a Chrome Trooper working for the First Order (the remnants of The Empire), who is sent to recover the droid and lightsabre.
On the subject of droids, C3P0 has been seen in several promotional shots sporting a red arm. It looks like he’s had an accident since the end of Return of the Jedi, though it wouldn’t be the first time the normally all- gold droid has had to replace a limb.
The facts and rumours are sure to keep coming right up until the movie finally hits our screens on December 17, so that’s almost 200 more days of conjecture and guesswork to look forward to until we’re finally put out of our misery. Enjoy the hype!
cnewbould@thenational.ae
