--- title: New Star Wars Will Reportedly Film in Morocco description: Star Wars: Episode VII is set to include scenes on Luke Skywalker's home planet of Tatooine canonical: https://time.com/59475/star-wars-episode-seven-morocco-tunisia/ author: Alex Fitzpatrick article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-04-11T15:59:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T07:16:01.665Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: New Star Wars Will Reportedly Film in Morocco og:description: Star Wars: Episode VII is set to include scenes on Luke Skywalker's home planet of Tatooine og:url: https://time.com/59475/star-wars-episode-seven-morocco-tunisia/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb472ad1ded785eb5/69868a421eebf777ee370587/luke-skywalker-star-wars-tatooine.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker on the Tatooine set of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: New Star Wars Will Reportedly Film in Morocco twitter:description: Star Wars: Episode VII is set to include scenes on Luke Skywalker's home planet of Tatooine twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb472ad1ded785eb5/69868a421eebf777ee370587/luke-skywalker-star-wars-tatooine.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # New _Star Wars_ Will Reportedly Film in Morocco, While Tunisia's Tatooine Set Languishes  by [Alex Fitzpatrick](https://time.com/author/alex-fitzpatrick/)  ## Alex Fitzpatrick Apr 11, 2014 3:59 PM UTC  Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker on the Tatooine set of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker on the Tatooine set of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New HopeSunset Boulevard/Corbis  by [Alex Fitzpatrick](https://time.com/author/alex-fitzpatrick/)  ## Alex Fitzpatrick Apr 11, 2014 3:59 PM UTC _Star Wars: Episode VII_ is set to include scenes on Luke Skywalker’s home planet of Tatooine, _The Hollywood Reporter_ [reports](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/star-wars-episode-vii-shoot-694924) — but Disney is unlikely to return to the Earth-bound set where scenes on that planet were first shot for 1977’s _Star Wars: A New Hope._ Much of the original _Star Wars’_ Tatooine footage was filmed in the North African country of Tunisia, while Disney now reportedly has its sites set on locations in Abu Dhabi or possibly [Morocco](http://www.slashfilm.com/star-wars-7-tatooine/). Disney, which acquired the _Star Wars_ franchise as part of a [$4.05 billion deal](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-30/disney-agrees-to-buy-lucasfilm-for-4-05-billion-in-cash-stock.html) with Lucasarts, is staying mum on where _Episode VII_ will be filmed; a Disney spokesperson did not return TIME’s request for comment for this story. However, Disney’s apparent choice to skip Tunisia is _especially_ interesting when you consider that several of the original 1970s Tatooine sets are still standing in the Tunisian desert_._ That’s right — you can visit Tatooine just by hopping on a plane to Tunis, as many a fellow _Star Wars_ fan [has done](http://goafrica.about.com/b/2007/11/21/star-wars-tours-in-tunisia.htm). But Tatooine is vulnerable, and this time it’s not the Imperial Navy that’s threatening the double-sunned desert planet. Researchers who track the movement of sand dunes in the Tunisian desert (sounds like a fun gig) have been warning for years that the _Star Wars_ site is in danger of being overtaken by the desert. _Star Wars_ fans afraid the sets will be lost forever have crafted a publicity campaign called “Save Mos Espa,” so named for a spaceport city in the _Star Wars_ universe. The Tunisian government itself recently got involved, with its tourism ministry setting up an [Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign](https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/save-mos-espa) to raise $45,000 that will go to protecting the site for another decade or so before more preservation efforts will be required. The crowdfunding campaign has raised $3,600 with 57 days to go. But Disney could be the real hero of this story — $45,000 is chump change for the company, just .001% of the $4 billion it paid for Lucasfilm and the _Star Wars_ franchise. Why not shoot in Tunisia, where the old set might be perfectly aged for the new film, set some 30 years after the events of _Star Wars: Return of the Jedi_? [Security](http://allafrica.com/stories/201404110447.html) could certainly be a concern — but if that’s the case, Disney could still write a quick check, becoming the Guardians of the Galaxy Far, Far Away. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/59475/star-wars-episode-seven-morocco-tunisia/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/59475/star-wars-episode-seven-morocco-tunisia/"},"headline":"New Star Wars Will Reportedly Film in Morocco, While Tunisia's Tatooine Set Languishes","datePublished":"2014-04-11T15:59:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:16:01.665Z","description":"Disney reportedly has its sites set on locations in Abu Dhabi or possibly Morocco for the seventh installment in the sci-fi franchise. 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