See Ralph McQuarrie's Influence on STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII Set and a BTS Pic From Rian Johnson
At this point, we know almost nothing about Star Wars: Episode VIII, and as someone who always regrets knowing every single thing about a movie before I see it, I'm really relishing this period in which we're not yet inundated with speculation and rumors.
Today, I have a couple of photos to share with you from the sets, but they don't give anything away or even provide any hints at the direction of the story. First up is a photo from writer/director Rian Johnson, who took to Tumblr to share an image of the set:
That looks like the Millennium Falcon in the background, but it's unclear who's piloting it. If the end of The Force Awakens is any indication, it'll be Rey and Chewie, but anything's possible.
And here's a cool pic (via io9) from the film's set in Dubrovnik (the same place HBO shoots Game of Thrones) that specifically points to the tremendous influence of concept artist Ralph McQuarrie on this film (notice the design on the ceiling). McQuarrie is hugely responsible for the iconography of Star Wars as we know it, and had a massive impact on the look of the original trilogy and The Force Awakens. He died in 2012, but it's great to see that his work continues to inspire filmmakers in a galaxy far, far away.
Star Wars: Episode VIII hits theaters on December 15, 2017.