Scottish fact of the day: Sci-fi in Scotland

TODAY’S launch of a new trailer for the Star Wars film - Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, to give it its full title - has prompted a great lather of excitement from science fiction fans and Star Wars aficionados.
By The Newsroom
Published 28th Nov 2014, 21:03 BST
A still from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Picture: PAA still from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Picture: PA
A still from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Picture: PA

The Star Wars series is one of cinema’s most popular science fiction franchises - and its latest installment, directed by JJ Abrams, may have been partially filmed in Scotland.

After producers confirmed that the movie would be shot entirely in the United Kingdom, it was reported that Skye and the Highlands were among several filming locations being considered.

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Scotland already has a small but impressive pedigree with providing the scenery for Hollywood’s brightest and best science fiction films.

A still from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Picture: PAA still from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Picture: PA
A still from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Picture: PA

Shots of Harris were used in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey to replicate the surface of another planet. More recently, Hollywood blockbuster World War Z was partially filmed in Glasgow city centre, which was altered to look like Philadelphia for the shoot. Another big budget sci-fi thriller with a dose of horror, Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, was filmed in Skye - the Old Man of Stor is visible in the movie’s ethereal opening scenes.

Meanwhile, the critically acclaimed Under The Skin, directed by Jonathan Glazer and starring Scarlett Johansson, was shot in Glasgow and various parts of Scotland, including areas surrounding Glencoe and the harbour and beach area at Auchmithie, near Arbroath.

Coming away from the big screen, a TV adaption of the popular Outlander novels is being shot entirely in Scotland, with Doune Castle in Stirling among several locations to be used.

SEE ALSO

• Outlander: Is Scotland’s Game of Thrones any good?

• New Star Wars film could be shot in Scotland

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Related topics:GlasgowScotsmanOutlanderHollywood