A photo of the Star Wars: Episode VIII set in Dubrovnik shows a landspeeder partially covered by a tarp.
The Dubrovnik local news portal DuList first shared the photo, and Making Star Wars shared it on their site. The prop is partially concealed by a black tarp, making it difficult to gauge its build. It is, however, unmistakably a landspeeder. What we can see of the side seems to indicate it might be painted a dull gold color.
Earlier this week, we reported the rumor that Daisy Ridley and Mark Hamill were headed for Dubrovnik to film scenes for Episode VIII. Before and since then, photos of the city sets being built there have been circulating the internet. The aesthetic of the sets is upscale, with brick building facades and tile on the ground; all dressed in warm tones. It reminds me of Naboo, though some of the sets may be too modern to match the city of Theed from The Phantom Menace.
Making Star Wars also shared a recent photo of mock Star Wars-style set entrances, complete with neon lighting, which were also built in Dubrovnik. Here, you can see the similarity between the Dubrovnik stonework and that of Theed, as well as the dome (of which Theed has a lot). But the neon lights look like something more suited to Coruscant, where club life is around every corner. Who knows, maybe Naboo has turned a little rebellious in the decades since Padme was queen.
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Hopefully the set is meant to depict a location from a new planet in Star Wars canon. I’d be interested to see different populated locations than the ones we were shown in the prequels and The Clone Wars. It would add color and variance to the world building in the sequel trilogy, as well as give us fans more trivia to learn about. On the other hand, though, having Luke return to his mother’s home planet could serve as an emotional story telling point.