Star Wars: Episode VII has already begun filming according to Disney CEO Bob Iger, but details about the production have been well concealed. We know R2-D2 is in it, and Peter Mayhew is back to play Chewbacca. Carrie Fisher may be returning, and a few other bits have been revealed. Iger said Star Wars: Episode VII will be set 30 years after Return Of The Jedi and star three new young leads.
Now THR confirms a rumor earlier reported by Badass Digest: Tatooine will be one of the locations in the new film, making this the sixth of seven Star Wars installments with scenes on Tatooine. THR says Disney and J.J. Abrams plan to “build out an extensive re-creation of Tatooine […] in a Morocco-like environment”.
The original Tatooine was built in Tunisia and left standing, but there’s a bit of a kerfuffle with restoring those buildings for filming: people moved into them. Anakin Skywalker’s hometown of Mos Espa in Episode I now has squatters, and Luke Skywalker’s home in Episode IV is a being used as a hotel. No word on if Owen and Beru’s charred remains have been made into coffee tables.