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02nd Jan 2018

The first filming location for the new Star Wars Trilogy has been revealed

Rory Cashin

Star Wars

Sure isn’t it basically right next door?

Come the release of Star Wars Episode IX on 20 December 2019, that is it for the Skywalker saga.

After 9 movies, kicking off with a young Anakin and a middle-aged Qui Gon Jinn back in The Phantom Menace (we’re sorry for bringing that painful memory back up), 42 years later it will all wrap up with Rey and Kylo Ren when J.J. Abrams returns to cap out that story.

However, Disney and Lucasfilm have given Rian Johnson the go-ahead for a brand new original trilogy, taking place within the Star Wars universe, featuring a host of brand new characters.

Considering the fact that The Last Jedi has made over $1 billion at the box office after just 17 days (and has already bypassed the entire amount made by Rogue One in cinemas), it seems like a good bet, even if the movie itself seemed to upset long-time Star Wars fans, and actually won over those who hadn’t been a big fan of the series to date.

Having filmed some of the movie in Ireland (we checked out a lot of the filming sights in and around Skellig Michael, which you can read about here), and we asked Johnson himself if he would consider returning to Ireland for the next trilogy when we had the opportunity to chat with him in the lead up to The Last Jedi.

Well, the first filming location has been announced, and while it isn’t Ireland, it is pretty close, and Johnson has clearly got a taste for the green scenery (as well as heavy rain and wind).

The Daily Record are reporting that Johnson is going to start filming scenes for the movie in Scotland later in 2018.

According to a source, “As is now customary with any Star Wars production, the movie is shrouded in secrecy but they want to shoot scenes around the Rest and Be Thankful. Further filming has been pencilled in for elsewhere in the country.”

The Rest and Be Thankful is a historic pass that rises 860 feet between Loch Long and Loch Awe, and further shooting is expected to take place in the Argyll area in Scotland, should you want to head there before it becomes a mega tourist destination once the movie comes out…

Farm sitting has its perks! ? . . #GlenCroe #RestAndBeThankful #Rays #IS_BestOf2016

A post shared by Paul Hunter (@paulhunter_) on

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