‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’ Officially Wraps Filming in Ireland; British Fans Sneak Into Millennium Falcon Set

‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’ officially ended principal photography in Ireland. Meanwhile, British fans snuck into the Millennium Falcon filming set in Surrey, England.

According to Melty, director Rian Johnson confirmed that filming in Ireland has officially ended through his personal Twitter account. Principal photography took place in breathtaking locations including Skellig Michael, regarded as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and Malin Head, the northernmost tip of mainland Ireland.

Both locations also served as filming sets for J.J. Abrams’ ‘Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens’ as the water planet where Rey first encountered Luke Skywalker at the end of the film. It was speculated that the water planet will serve as the site of the first Jedi temple as well as the site of a major jedi battle between the forces of good and evil – specifically of Luke and Rey’s fight against Kylo Ren and his Dark Knights.

Another article on BGR provided massive yet still unconfirmed spoilers that detailed the jedi fights that will be among the highlights of Johnson’s new film.

The scene, as revealed by an unnamed source, began with Luke and Rey on Ahch-To during sunset. Rain begins to fall and Kylo Ren, together with his Knights of Ren, approaches the two to engage in a showdown. Rey is challenged to a vengeful one-on-one duel with Kylo Ren along the cliff face while his Knights pursue Luke on the beach.

Much to Kylo Ren’s dismay, Luke gained enough power to defeat his Knights and begins to go after him after fighting off the foes one by one. At this point, Rey has disappeared and has either fallen off the cliff or is terribly wounded. Kylo Ren retreats after finding his Knights defeated.

Meanwhile, according to I09.com, members of the British exploration forum called Oblivion State found themselves on the Millennium Falcon set and posted several photographs of Han Solo’s iconic shuttle on the forum thread.

Other drone footage of the set in the Surrey studio was also revealed. The photographs, taken by Tim Clark, showed attempts to recreate an island cliff where the Millennium Falcon landed in the preceding film. It was speculated that the highly detailed set at Longcross Film Studios in Chertsey will feature importantly in Johnson’s follow-up.

‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’ is the sequel to 2015’s ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’. The film is scheduled to be released on December 15, 2017 and will follow Rey’s continuing adventures with Luke, Finn, and Poe. It is produced under Lucasfilm Ltd. and Bad Robot Productions.

Its predecessor broke several box office records upon its release – earning $2.05 billion against a $306 million budget. It ranked third for All Time Highest Grossing Movies Worldwide and also became the highest-grossing film in the ‘Star Wars’ franchise.