Posted at Metro.co.uk from our friends Mark Newbold and James Burns:

As of May 16, the filming of Star Wars Episode VII entered hyperdrive as the production moved continents to Abu Dhabi, where second unit shooting was already well underway and leaked photographs of what looked like the foot of an AT-AT (a familiar vehicle to Star Wars fans, first seen in The Empire Strikes Back 34 years ago) were seen spreading across a hungry internet.

With rumours rife that the story sees our heroes return to the desert planet of Tatooine, why would the production aim for Abu Dhabi and not the original location of Tunisia, where A New Hope set up shop almost 40 years ago back in 1976 and Attack of the Clones in 2000?

The answer could well be two fold. From a practical, film production point of view the reason is simple – economics…

Click here for the full story at Metro.co.uk