Lucasfilm which is owned by Disney announced on Friday that production of Star Wars: Episode VII will be produced in the United Kingdom having it as the latest example of a high-profile Hollywood movie filming outside California. While another big Disney movie, Marvel Studios’ current release Iron Man 3, filmed in North Carolina.

Furthermore to say, Britain provides rebates of up to 25 per cent, making it an attractive destination for such big productions as the Harry Potter movies, Clash of the Titans and Captain America: the First Avenger.

The Star Wars franchise has long-standing ties to Britain having all of the six previous live-action Star Wars movies filmed scenes in the UK, at such renowned studios as Shepperton and Pinewood Studios.

Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm said in a statement that they have devoted serious time and attention to revisiting the origins of Star Wars as inspiration for their process on the new movie and he is thrilled that returning to the UK for production and utilising the incredible talent there can be a part of that. He continued that speaking from his own long-standing connection to the UK with films like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Empire of the Sun and recently War Horse, it’s very exciting to be heading back.

In fact, representatives from Lucasfilm met with the chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, in London this year to establish an agreement to produce Star Wars in the UK.

Osborne said that he is delighted that Star Wars is coming back to Britain while he also said that today’s announcement that the next Star Wars film will be shot and produced in the UK is great news for fans and their creative industries.

As the fact remain, Star Wars: Episode VII will be directed by JJ Abrams, with a screenplay by Michael Arndt, and is scheduled for a 2015 release.

Causing an exciting conclusion, after acquiring Lucasfilm last year for $4 billion, Disney announced this year that it will release a new Star Wars film every year starting in 2015, with Episode VII the first instalment in a planned trilogy while also releasing two stand-alone Star Wars films that are not part of the overall saga.

Image source: Star Wars: Episode VII

(AW:Samrat Biswas)