Is STAR WARS: EPISODE VII Heading Back To Yavin IV?

It’s been a couple of weeks since we’ve had any kind of new Star Wars: Episode VII rumor to report on, so let’s indulge in this one.

An article being circulated by Reuters (and commented on by the Guardian) about the ancient Mayan city of Tikal in Guatemala is stating that the new film will be heading back to a location familiar to fans of the original trilogy. Specifically, the hidden rebel base on the jungle moon of Yavin IV. The few brief moments outside the base seen in the film were shot at Tikal though the report suggests that the production won’t travel back there for shooting.

Yavin 4 and the rebel base return to the Star Wars plot in the forthcoming Episode VII, announced in October by the Walt Disney Co, in which Skywalker comes back to the planet to build a Jedi Knight academy. However, fans said that Disney will likely film those scenes in a studio rather than return to Tikal.

Of course, Disney isn’t commenting.

There is one thing that is worrying about the article and that is it’s the use of the words “fans say” which makes me think that there is the possibility that this the entire story is just an unfounded fan-generated and perpetuated rumor.

But, I have to admit that there may is some possibility that this is true. In the Extended Universe of Star Wars novels, the old Rebel base on Yavin IV had been turned into the new Jedi Academy by Luke Skywalker following the fall of the Galactic Empire, though it was later destroyed during the invasion of the Yuuzhan Vong. We know that Mark Hamill has been approached about possibly coming back to the franchise so setting at least some of his scenes as Luke Skywalker here would go a long way towards pleasing die hard Star Wars fans in a way that probably wouldn’t leave non-fans totally confused.

Via Bleeding Cool.