Star Wars 8 Rumor: ‘Casino Planet’ Name Revealed

This December’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi could possibly feature planets seen in the earlier saga installments, but the sequel will have at least one new world seemingly called Canto Bight. During principal photography last year, writer/director Rian Johnson and company went to the city of Dubrovnik, Croatia, which by all accounts was used to film exteriors on what has been referred to as a “casino planet.” Every Star Wars movie since A New Hope has added planets to the ever-expanding galaxy far, far away, so it isn’t any surprise that Episode VIII will follow suit.

Fans have been able to get tiny glimpses of Canto Bight via leaked set photos that made their way online, but as has become customary with Lucasfilm productions, there wasn’t much information for viewers to take in. The biggest takeaway from those earlier images was that this location will be different from all its predecessors – a welcomed development after The Force Awakens more or less offered newer versions of classic planets like Tatooine (Jakku) and Hoth (Starkiller base). It’s long been promised that The Last Jedi will take the franchise in some fresh directions, so this his hopefully a sign of things to come.

Making Star Wars has heard from their sources that the Dubrovnik casino planet is called Canto Bight, though they caution it could be a code name and not the official name. In addition to the on-location filming that took place in Croatia, the actual casino interiors were shot at Pinewood Studios. It was previously reported Justin Theroux’s mystery slicer character would take part in a sequence or two set on Canto Bight. It’ll be interesting to see if the world is featured in the upcoming Last Jedi teaser.

Since plot details for the film are obviously being heavily guarded, there’s no telling how exactly Canto Bight fits into the overall plot. What little has been revealed so far indicates Finn will be embarking on a mission for the Resistance (one that sees him go undercover within the First Order), so it’s possible his assignment requires him to visit this planet. In late 2016, some rumors suggested Benicio del Toro’s character could be connected to the casino, though that’s difficult to say for sure at this juncture. Either way, it sounds like Canto Bight has a key role to play in Star Wars 8.

It won’t be much longer until some official details are revealed, as The Last Jedi is going to be the centerpiece of this year’s Star Wars Celebration event in Orlando. Friday, April 14 is when Johnson and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy will hold their panel, unveiling the first trailer and possibly sharing other tidbits along the way. With eight months remaining until the movie’s premiere, the studio isn’t going to dispense too much, but at this point, the Star Wars die-hards will take whatever they can get to start the next wave of theorizing as they count down the days until the saga continues.