With news that Jedi in exile Obi-Wan Kenobi will get his own spin-off movie and has a possible director in Stephen Daldry, the next step is learning the working title and filming location of the project…
An unconfirmed working title and potential filming location for a Star Wars Obi-Wan standalone film, which we are still awaiting an official announcement by Disney and Lucasfilm, has surfaced via Star Wars Leaks on Reddit.
The working-title for the Obi-Wan project is reportedly going by the name of Joshua Tree.
StarWars.com lists Zabriskie Point in California, which is the artwork used for U2’s Joshua Tree album cover, as one of the locations where previous Tatooine scenes were filmed for other Star Wars films, which gives strong hints and indications of where filming for Obi-Wan is taking place.
Although Tunisia is the main location for most of the Tatooine based filmed scenes in the past, a few were shot in California, including the scorching Death Valley.
The most likely location for an Obi-Wan standalone story would be on the world of Tatooine, lining up with the connections of that alleged working title and filming locations.
StarWars.com has a very handy map and descriptions of previous filming sites for the real life location of the desert planet, where Obi-Wan went into exile, and both Anakin Skywalker and Luke Skywalker grew up within the actual Star Wars timeline:
Photo credit: Lucasfilm
"In January 1977, George Lucas took a second-unit team to Death Valley to film some leftover pick-up shots that weren’t filmed in Tunisia due to difficulties they had encountered there."
Photo credit: Lucasfilm
"Artist’s Palette: While the majority of the scene where Artoo gets captured by the Jawas was shot in Tunisia, some shots were filmed around the location of Artist’s Palette. One of the shots George Lucas found out to be missing was a shot of the Jawas carrying Artoo towards the sandcrawler."
Photo credit: Lucasfilm
"One of these trips was in Death Valley with George Lucas present, and people from the production have been quoted as saying they filmed “on a road that crosses the Devil’s Golf Course.”"
Photo credit: Lucasfilm
"Another couple of problematic shots to get were the ones involving the model of the sandcrawler, which took at least six trips. Many of these have since been replaced with new shots that were created by using a model with fake miniature hills on top of the ILM headquarters for the 1997 Special Edition. But the original ones where also filmed in Randsburg."
Photo credit: Lucasfilm
It makes perfect and logical sense for an Obi-Wan story to be filmed again in this location since old Ben would venture into many of these same locations while in exile.
Although not 100 percent confirmed yet by Disney and Lucasfilm, this rumor has me excited enough to pull the ears off a gundark.
Next: 5 flashback scenes we want to see in an Obi-Wan Star Wars film
Stay tuned to Dork Side of the Force as more news on the Obi-Wan standalone Star Wars films develops. Share your thoughts in the comment section below and also on social media.