As Star Wars: The Force Awakens inches toward becoming the highest-grossing film in history, you’re might be a touch curious about how it came to be. This new video gives us a rare peek behind-the-scenes at the actual making of the film, and specifically how director J.J. Abrams chose the location for TFA’s powerful final scene.
Major spoilers for The Force Awakens follow.
When we say “the ending of the film,” we mean the very ending: The reveal of Luke Skywalker, on a remote island that Rey may or may not have seen in her dreams. Those scenes were filmed on Skellig Michael, an island in Ireland, and in this video you can find out how Abrams discovered the location and watch them do a little shooting there.
What the video doesn’t say about the location is that there were some environmental concerns after filming concluded, and rumor has it—despite Episode VIII director Rian Johnson filming at the location with Daisy Ridley and Mark Hamill several months ago—the movies may not be going back.
Nevertheless, the location has undoubtedly become a tourist hot-spot after its inclusion in the movie and it’s wonderful to actually see some footage of how Star Wars: The Force Awakens was made.
[Discover Ireland, H/T MakingStarWars]
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