There’s a lot of news coming out of the in-production Star Wars: Episode VII right now, and not all of it is sanctioned by the studio.
In the wake of yesterday’s official announcement regarding two more members being added to the Episode VII cast, a batch of new photos from the set of the film have arrived online that are decidedly less official, but just as — if not more — fascinating for longtime fans. And just to be safe, this is the part where we offer a warning for anyone who wants their experience with the new film to be unsullied by information above and beyond the studio’s carefully planned flow of information, so… SPOILER ALERT.
Okay, now that we have that out of the way…
Two galleries posted at TMZ over the last 48 hours have revealed quite a bit of what’s happening both at the current Abu Dhabi set of the film and in a massive indoor studio where some of the film’s spacecraft are being constructed as full-size sets.
The first gallery from the desert set features a lot of shots clearly taken by extras in the film (who probably won’t continue being extras if their identities are discovered), and while it provides a nice glimpse at some of the costumes and props being used for the film, the gallery also reveals a massive, pig-like creature (seen below) that appears to be one of the practical effects we’ll see.
A second gallery of photos features some indoor shots from an unidentified set in the U.K. (possibly Pinewood Studios?) where construction was taking place on several full-size models of spaceships that will appear in the film — including one particular ship that even casual fans will recognize.
Apparently, the Millenium Falcon will not only be seen in the film, but will play a large enough role that a life-size version of Han Solo’s famous flying “piece of junk” is necessary. The photos show the Falcon in various stages of construction — or possibly deconstruction in order to move it elsewhere — with the portions of the set being moved by crane while others are shown to be in a simple, skeletal framework stage.
Along with the Millenium Falcon, there’s also a photo of what appears to be an X-Wing fighter craft being assembled inside the studio. Follow the link to the gallery above to check these early looks out.
Star Wars, Episode VII is currently scheduled to hit theaters December 18, 2015.
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