Star Wars: Episode VII Set to Begin Filming May 13 in Abu Dhabi.

Star Wars: Episode VII reportedly begins filming this Tuesday, May 13, in Abu Dhabi, with production said to continue there until at least the end of May.

According to sources for The National, “the sets are getting closer to completion, with a ‘whole world’ having been built on an otherworldly salt lake at one location, a ‘shuttle-like’ spacecraft, a large tower, a ‘big, centuries-old-looking market’, something the crew are reportedly referring to as the ‘alien house’ and 10 to 15 ‘really fast buggies’ powered by jet engines.”
The site also reports that two truckloads of explosives were brought in to create a big crater in the desert. And to keep any onlookers from trying to get close enough to the remote desert location to snap photos, the police and army are checking all vehicles approaching the vicinity to make sure they belong there.

Crew members and some of the cast are said to have checked into their hotels in Abu Dhabi last week.