Star Wars Episode 7 News

Monday, May 19, 2014

UPDATE! This is Where Star Wars: Episode 7 is Being Filmed Right Now!

star wars

Intentionally or not, the officially revealed image on Instagram with the Episode 7 clapperboard from the first day of filming had a geolocation enabled. And the coordinates point to that place (green arrow) on the image above (cluck the image for bigger version). Yep, that's Abu Dhabi...



The coordinates can be found in the source code of the Instagram page with the photo. Too bad we can't zoom in as much as we want. It's really feels good watching the image and knowing where exactly the real magic happens. :)

Thanks to SHH member MagnarTheGreat for the great detective work.


UPDATE!

You can see some images from around those coordinates here

The closest POI near those coordinates with an actual image from Google Maps  is this:  :)

star wars

77 comments:

  1. So, whoever is at Abu Dhabi on a buisness trip or holiday: Get a Jeep and go out there!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh boy - a field trip! (|}^;p

      Delete
    2. I'm actually moving to Abu Dhabi in August.. So frustrated that this shoot couldn't have happened a few months later!!

      Delete
    3. Hahahaha sucker!

      Delete
  2. Very Cool!

    Now, let's move to phase 2...

    OPERATION: TRAVEL TO ABU DHABI AND STALK THE PRODUCTION

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You tauntaun will sweat to death before you reach the first marker! :P

      Delete
    2. Then I'll see you in-- ^_-

      Delete
  3. lol next we'll be deploying kamikaze photographers into the hot zone....

    ReplyDelete
  4. You won't even get anywhere near it so what's the point!

    ReplyDelete
  5. That's some impressive detective work.

    ReplyDelete
  6. You can go to that location on Google Maps or Earth putting those coordinates on the search bar.
    Now, the location is very, VERY, near the sea, and there are both sand dunes and salt flats, other then the beach and the sea itself.

    This is the place, look for youself:
    https://www.google.it/maps/@24.223314,54.3403824,12010m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=it

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @Blue Comet
      Well yes, that's how I got the first image. I thought it's obvious. :)

      Delete
    2. Yeah, I was trying to make it even more obvious :)

      Delete
  7. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Abu+Dhabi/@24.308305,54.457855,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m5!1e2!3m3!1s54403825!2e1!3e10!4m2!3m1!1s0x3e5e440f723ef2b9:0xc7cc2e9341971108

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Is that really a picture from the exact coordinates?

      Delete
    2. Actually I checked it now. That image with the industrial buildings is not near the actual coordinates where the image was taken.

      Delete
  8. Gooood now our spies will swarm the area !!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sex in the city 2 was mostly filmed in Abu Dhabi so I hope this new Star Wars movie is as good as that film was .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I guess Chewbacca must be Mr Big then.

      Delete
  10. THAT'S IT. THE REBELS ARE THERE.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My lord, there are so many uncharted settlements. It could be smugglers, it could be...

      Delete
    2. THAT IS THE SYSTEM. AND I'M SURE SKYWALKER IS WITH THEM. SET YOUR COURSE FOR THE ABU DHABI SYSTEM. GENERAL VIRAL HIDE, PREPARE YOUR MEN.

      Delete
  11. Isn't it possible that the photo was taken inside one of those many buildings? In which case, the actual outside filming could be taking place many miles from here.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Fund my trip and I'll walk right up to the production set.......

    We will test their security LOL. Anyways if I lived close enough to the location I would mos def try to breach the set \m/

    ReplyDelete
  13. How do you see the coordinates in the photo ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Click on the link I gave after the Update. You can see plenty of images there. When you click on a certain image you can see the coordinates below.

      Delete
    2. Thank you but I asked about the Instagram photo

      Delete
    3. It's in the source code of the page with the photo.

      Delete
    4. Can't find them... but thanks ^^'

      Delete
  14. hmmm maybe that's the Dune Sea that Luke said obi-wan lived near. Would be pretty cool if we see Luke living in old-ben's house.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't think its going to be the Dune Sea.

      Delete
    2. I could be wrong, but I always got the impression that the Dune Sea was just that. Dunes, no water. Just a sea of sand.

      Delete
    3. hmm wookipedia says the dune sea was just a sea of dunes. I always thought it was an actual sea, a play on words.

      Delete
    4. Would you need moisture farming if there was a giant sea nearby?

      Delete
    5. I've read a lot of dumb ideas on this site but I like that one... It would give Luke a good reason to go back... maybe if Obi-Wan had something important that they might need... who knows though. Although if I'm not mistaken, weren't they already at Obi-Wan's house in episode IV?

      Delete
  15. Would somebody deploy a drone made of lightweight lucite, so it's invisible, to those coördinates STAT? Thank you. And live long & prosper.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I actually worry that maybe this will make JJ think twice before showing us twitter pics haha. But yeah this is the kind of stuff I'd prefer not to see unless we get official shots from the set. I hope we do get one soon though!

      Delete
  16. That location looks stunning. Could do so much there. Possibly some underwater filming? Seems to be a marine conservation area. Great twin sunset potential. Also, although I agree that a 'dune sea' is made of sand, I'd love to see some ocean or coastal scenery in the new film. As far as I recall, the only proper ocean we saw in the PT was the attack on Kashyyyk?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Yeah any pix pulled from google map will be OLD.......
    It's not like google updates their map pix any where near as much as we get updates from here :(






    ReplyDelete
  18. AT-AT's on a beach? Or maybe they're coming out of the sea/some sort of hybrid that is able go go under water? Can you picture an AT-AT rising from the ocean?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You know how you heard the thundering footsteps of the coming AT-AT's just before the battle of Hoth? Imagine hearing that and seeing huge ripples in the ocean.

      Our heroes are enjoying a nice vacation on the beach, sipping blue milk and sun bathing. Then suddenly, thump! thump! thump!

      Delete
  19. Totally reminds me of this level from one of the Rogue Squadron games:

    http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20061025155440/starwars/images/b/b6/BattleofKothlis.jpg

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. BTW - Kothlis is the name of the planet in that picture:

      Kothlis Description:

      The world was largely oceanic with many scenic islands, covered in palm trees and dotted with beaches. Many of these islands were grouped together in atolls. The water in some places was shallow enough for AT-ATs to wade through.

      Sounds legit.

      Delete
    3. Kothlis Video:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9svIns_Ddo

      Delete
    4. the pics of the location really feel like Kothlis in rogue leader. Btw, there is a story link about the death star... maybe some kind of copy of the plan will be there ? ^^

      Delete
    5. It's an idea but I highly doubt JJ will use a video game as his source for a planet in the film. I know Lucas wrote an outline for the sequel trilogy which seemed to have been detailed enough to describe new worlds... so I'm guessing JJ uses that as his source. I suppose it's possible that Lucas used Kothlis in both the outline and games but it doesn't seem like the most original of worlds to be honest.

      Delete
    6. I would agree with you that JJ wouldn't write it - however Simon Kinberg of Pablo Hildago could look at JJ's script draft and say "yeah, we have a planet like that in the Star Wars Universe and it is ________ and it was it was utilized in _____ way." It would be a great way to take bits and pieces from the EU and show them on screen. That being said, who knows, and maybe it will be an all new planet. I certainly don't see it being Tatooine though, that would be lame.

      Delete
    7. Noooooooooo I thought the EU stuff was done. I watched the video from rogue squadron and the planet just looked very boring... the battle was interesting to see but I mean one of the points of Star Wars is to show exotic planets. Based on what Dale Pollock said regarding the new worlds in the sequel trilogy is that they were "really interesting". It seems the outline was detailed enough to describe the new worlds so I'd bet JJ is using that as his sole source... assuming he is working off the outline (which I'd say is a pretty good bet given that Lucas is a "consultant")

      I'm not sure that I agree returning to Tatooine would be lame. I mean it's pretty much in every star wars movie and I'm sure that *if* they do go back JJ wouldn't make it a boring visit. I'm not the biggest fan of the Tatooine scenes in Episodes II and III... but in the other movies I think Tatooine provides nice contrast for outer space / coruscant/ naboo.

      Delete
    8. I don't know why people think the EU stuff is "dead" of "done" - in the press release regarding the new canon it was obvious that still could use the EU as reference material and take pieces of it for future content. It's right in the press release.

      I really don't care if a planet is boring or exciting itself- as long as there is a decent reason in the script to be on the planet. I mean look at earth- it has a huge variety of habitats and yet it seems like each star wars planet is just one type of habitat that thats it- the prequels had a lot of interesting planets but Lucas failed to write anything that awesome to happen on them which made them bland. It all starts with the script-

      I really don't care if the planet is there or not, i really like the set piece though- a downed star destroyer that the rebels need to retrieve information from- the visuals sound really compelling to me.

      reminds me of this great fan poster-
      http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ex8ImmpoGHQ/Uf0-HH2lSDI/AAAAAAAAMyU/GsSqvzV0bmQ/s1600/sw_episode_vii___teaser_2_by_andrewss7-d6abun6.jpg

      Kothlis is a Bothan inhabited planet- I can see being curious to create that species-


      Delete
    9. You are kind of contradicting yourself-

      "I highly doubt JJ will use a video game as his source for a planet in the film."

      "assuming he is working off the outline (which I'd say is a pretty good bet given that Lucas is a "consultant") "

      ok, so in the first comment you imply abrams has free reigns, in the second he has to follow lucas's lead- Lucas would actually be more likely to dip into the EU material to create a planet for an outline, he did that a ton in the clone wars.

      Sorry to be nitpicky.

      Delete
    10. If you watch interviews with JJ abrams you get a pretty good impression of what sort of guy he is and how he works. I don't get the impression that he's the sort of guy who sat around playing Star Wars games or whatever. In terms of "free reign" I wouldn't put it that way... what I meant to say is that he wants it be authentic to Lucas's early vision of SW, before all the EU clutter.

      That outline Dale Pollock read was written in the 80's which for the most part predates the EU stuff, that's what Lucas handed to Bob Iger, which in turn is what Abrams is working off of. That's initially what I meant. I do like the EU games but I don't want to see that stuff in the films, they were good for those games but fulfilled their purpose there. True, Lucas dips into EU for the clone wars but I didn't like the Felloni clone wars... the environments look very boring in those shows, but I watch them anyway cuz I need my Star Wars fix.

      I know what you mean about the Earth's habitats as being represented by planets in Star Wars. Yes, Tatooine is basically a giant version of Saudi Arabia but it was made to feel like an alien world with it's binary suns and creatures/people/culture living there. But there were also un earth like environments... like Bespin, Degobah, coruscant, or anything that would have appeared in the Ralph McQuarrie art... I have a high standard for the environments we'll be exposed to in the sequel films. I think JJ's previous work is indicative of exotic environments too, as in Star Trek they went to great pains to make the planets feel exotic... like spending months building red leafed trees for the opening sequence of "Into Darkness". Klingon homeworld and Vulcan homeworld are other good examples, very un-earth like in those films.

      Delete
    11. When you say George Lucas is a 'consultant', I hope that doesn't mean he has an input into creating SW7 characters. Lucas will always be held in the highest regard, after all he's the guy who gave us this marvellous universe of Jedi Knights and Sith Lords, but there's no coming back after Jar Jar Binks. Especially when the prequels themselves were also pretty charmless and perfunctory. At least, that's my opinion.

      Delete
    12. Good call Aras - def respect your comments-

      I also hope Abrams sticks to the fundamentals of the OT that he loved when he was a kid. I think that is actually where the show Rebels stems from- that being said, Clone Wars wasn't always great but it definitely allowed us to see the huge world of star wars. At first glance Rebels seems to be a much smaller show, but I hope that isn't the case.

      Just as an idea- I don't love that Han Solo is set to have a "huge role" in SW7- While I'm glad he wasn't killed off in SW6- Ford did have a legit reason to request that fate- Solo really didn't have much to do in Return. They would have to make him a hugely interesting character to be able to pull off having a large role. I am absolutely in the camp of not caring if Lando and other supporting characters don't return. It doesn't make sense to just cram in legacy characters- especially when they are old and don't have much to do-

      Delete
    13. Thanks, likewise... sorry if I say dick-ish things sometimes... I'm caught between a rock and a hard place often on the forums because I'm a hardcore OT fan who liked the prequels but hated them at the same time, for exactly the reason Anon @ 10:43 illustrates. I was a teenager in the 90's so I played a lot of the great lucas arts games, but would rather have been a teenager watching new Star Wars trilogies in the late 80's and early 90's if that makes sense. Though Dark Forces & X wing were like holy grails for me, I spent many an hour mowing down storm troopers and tie fighters.
      As for the Clone Wars I agree that it was cool to see the embellished universe at work, which is why I watch it... what I really would have preferred would be to have the guy that did the clone wars Cartoon do that show instead... or if him and felloni could have worked together, because the battle scenes in the cartoon are way more epic, and very cleverly orchestrated.

      Anon @ 10:43 I think there is hope... because those treatments Lucas handed to Disney I'm fairly certain were written during the OT time period. The reason why I say this is because not long afterwards Lucas said repeatedly that he never intended to go back and finish VII thru IX, which means he probably wasn't working on those stories throughout that time period... there is a complex history regarding that if you know what I mean. Bottom line anything conceptually written by Lucas pre 1988 = good. But Lucas won't beable to Jar-Jar-ify the new films. I think Jar Jar could have worked in theory... but the execution is what made it terrible (nothing against ahmed best... not his fault). BTW... did you see this? (also check out lucas farewell to the fans linked video haha):

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5qQXrq3bAo

      Delete
    14. HaHa! Absolutely loved it. Thanks for the link. Can't wait 'till they roast George Lucas.

      Delete
  20. I think we've already established the fact that it's filming in Abu Dhabi.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was thinking the same thing too... I actually worry that this will make JJ more hesitant in revealing info to us because that was some pretty good detective work. If he gives us a shot from the movie set... who knows... someone might be able to figure out way more than JJ wanted to divulge.

      Delete
  21. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
  22. Dangnabbit, I'm moving to Abu Dhabi in August!! And it looks like that will be after the end of the shoot!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wouldn't feel too bad... I lived in Chicago while they were filming the Dark Knight... though I saw no signs of a film being shot there.

      Delete
    2. Darknight Gotham was filmed inside a giant Zepilon (however its spelt) hanger. I suppose they used Chicago for some filming.

      Delete
    3. I reckognize a lot of the locations... I think the first movie had more chicago scenes but there was a substantial amount of them in the dark knight. Pretty much every scene that was outdoors aside from the China or boat sequences. That giant chase scene was lower wacker drive and there was a bunch of scenes filmed under the L tracks.

      Delete
  23. So what will this planet be? Which out of hundreds?
    Surely not Tatooine, with the water 'n all...

    ReplyDelete
  24. Unless if the camera is pointed in the opposite direction haha

    ReplyDelete
  25. Amazing location, looks like something straight out a KOTOR game!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Star wars 7 is a totally new script original. So that means no EU its dead...

    As for this location why does it have to be Tatoonie, I don't think it has water....Or they wouldn't farm water from the air.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's not dead i still have may books on the shelves and my video games on my hard drives.

      Delete
  27. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete