Star Wars: Episode VIII begins shooting in Ireland this month

We're still a few months away from the release of STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS, but production on the next film in the Star Wars sequel trilogy will be kicking off sooner than we think. Initial reports by Irish news outlet RTE said that J.J. Abrams would be returning to the island of Skellig Michael off the southern coast of Ireland for some STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS reshoots later this month, but Lucasfilm later confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that the shoot would actually be for Rian Johnson's STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII.

The confusion apparently arose with Lucasfilm's attempt to keep thing's low-key by simply using the title "Star Wars" without differentiating between episodes. Here's a hint, if you really want to keep things low-key, maybe avoid using anything with "Star Wars" in the title; Red Harvest maybe? STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS did shoot on Skellig Michael during their production, so whatever location the Irish island is standing in for should be returning in STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII. Whether this shoot is the actual beginning of production on the film or merely the second-unit gathering some footage before production kicks off remains to be seen.

The site is a UNESCO world heritage site so there have been concerns over letting a film crew return to the island but "an ecologist and specialist staff from the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the National Monuments Service will be present for the duration of the filming, and will have the authority to stop or modify it should concerns arise." STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII will open on May 26, 2017.

Here's a little look at Skellig Michael; do a Google search of your own, it's well worth it.