Star Wars Episode IX: Filming updates from Jordan and the UK

Star Wars Episode IX has not one, but two filming updates: the completion of filming in one setting, and a confirmed return to another.

Things have been a bit quiet on the Star Wars Episode IX front lately, but we really can’t blame Disney, thanks to that fourth-quarter earnings call that confirmed a Diego-Luna-led Rogue One prequel series a few weeks ago. However, production just keeps on going, like those slow, menacing shots of Star Destroyers and the like.

Fortunately, even as things continue, the stars of the film keep on dropping tidbits on social media to tell us where they are. First it was John Boyega, but others, including the main puppeteer for BB-8, have checked in.

However, that’s the new generation of stars. Notably, some of the returning cast members (Mark Hamill among them) from the earliest days of Star Wars have been quite mum.

Guess who hasn’t been? Anthony Daniels. The man behind C-3P0 may not be fluent in six million forms of communication like his most famous character, but he can use Twitter and tell us things like this, as discovered by the fans over on r/StarWarsLeaks.

It’s back to the United Kingdom, then, for at least Threepio, although we don’t know who else is back at Pinewood Studios to continue work. Boyega, at least, is back in London according to his Instagram.

This does also seem to hint that Threepio could play a bigger role after mostly being sidelined in the first two sequel films; we know that there were a couple of stars there, including Oscar Isaac and, of course, Boyega.

Of course, this isn’t the only official confirmation of Episode IX actually filming in Jordan. In fact, both Kathleen Kennedy and J.J. Abrams spoke to a Jordanian news outlet, Roya News, about production. However, neither Kennedy nor Abrams expand on Daniels’ hint that Jordan may play multiple roles or have multiple sites featured in the new film.

For what it’s worth, the fans over on Reddit have mostly congregated around the idea that Jordan might stand in for one planet that will have two settings, and that seems like the most plausible explanation to this writer. It does, however, lead us to also agree with Star Wars News Net, linked above, that whatever the Jordan locations are doing in the movie, they’re important due to how long filming continued — a solid three weeks. No wonder Daniels is missing that “glorious time.”

With Pinewood back in play, though, keep an eye out for more potential leaks, photos, and more.