Star Wars fans still have images of the battle within the Royal Palace of Naboo and Padmé, the young Obi-Wan and the very young Anakin struggling with the droids of the Federation, but perhaps they do not know that in reality that building is in Italy. This is so because in 1999 and 2002 those scenes from “The Phantom Menace” and “Attack of the Clones” were shot inside the Royal Palace of Caserta.
Which is one of the most evocative locations touched by the Star Wars films in their incredible tour around the world: from Tunisia to China, from the United States to Australia, reaching Bolivia, remote Iceland and precisely Italy. It happened because the saga has now become so big, from the trilogy that started in the late seventies to the three films that served as prequels, to the three that served as sequels, that location where the Tatooine set was set up obviously not enough anymore.
And so the crews that have alternated over the years behind the cameras began to travel, and to travel a lot: for example, they went inside the Californian Redwood National Park, as well as in Norway (in the Finse area) and also in Ireland and in the suggestive salt flats of Salar de Uyuni, in Bolivia.
And with the universe imagined by George Lucas destined to expand further through TV series (after the one dedicated to the Mandalorian, at least one more is expected on Disney Plus, focused on Boba Fett), it is likely that the expenses for travel around the world of actors, extras and cameramen still expand. And who knows that one day we won’t really get to touch a distant galaxy, far away.
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