EXCLUSIVE: The force is with UK: New Star Wars film to be made in Britain after George Osborne used tax breaks to lure Disney



Original stars including Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher are expected back in Britain for Star Wars: Episode 7

Disney bought Lucasfilm in a controversial $4billion dollar deal in 2010

UK Chancellor George Osborne offered tax relief to attract blockbusters

Producer Kathleen Kennedy 'thrilled' to be returning to Britain







The new Star Wars film is to be made in Britain in a huge coup for the country’s film industry, the Daily Mail can reveal.

Original cast members Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill are expected to return to the UK to shoot the seventh film in the blockbuster series.



The film is due to start production in 2014 after representatives from Lucasfilm struck a deal with Chancellor George Osborne in a top secret meeting.

Star Wars returns: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford are expected to return to Britain to film the new film after the UK government offered new tax breaks to filmmakers

Director J.J. Abrams will shoot Star Wars VII in Britain after Chancellor George Osborne offered tax breaks to attract filmmakers to Britain

Director by J.J. Abrams will oversee production of Star Wars: Episode VII at studios and locations across Britain. Abrams most recently made Star Trek into Darkness and also directed Super 8.



The latest installment in the Star Wars franchise is based on a screenplay by Toy Story 3 writer Michael Arndt and is scheduled for a 2015.

The series was given a dramatic new release of life last year when creator George Lucas sold the rights to Disney in a $4.05billion deal to buy Lucasfilm.

While Lucas remains a creative consultant, longtime collaborator Kathleen Kennedy is now in charge.



The deal to have the new Star Wars film shot in Britain was secured after the UK government offered lucrative tax breaks to high quality filmmakers.

Creator: Star Wars mastermind George Lucas sold his Lucasfilm to Disney for $4.05billion Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm, said: ‘We've devoted serious time and attention to revisiting the origins of Star Wars as inspiration for our process on the new movie, and I'm thrilled that returning to the UK for production and utilizing the incredible talent there can be a part of that. ‘Speaking from my own longstanding connection to the UK with films like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Empire of the Sun and recently War Horse, it's very exciting to be heading back.’ New reliefs have helped attract billions of pounds worth of filmmaking to Britain over the past few years. In the last year alone, over 300 films received tax incentives from the Government. They include films such as Skyfall, Burke & Hare, Hugo, Inception, War Horse, The Iron Lady, The Woman in Black and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

The Government has offered similar reliefs for quality TV productions.

Series: The new film is expected to reunite many of the original cast, including Mark Hamill, as Luke Skywalker, and Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia, pictured in a scene from Star Wars: Episode VI, Return of the Jedi

Mr Osborne said: ‘I am delighted that Star Wars is coming back to Britain. Today’s announcement that the next Star Wars film will be shot and produced in the UK is great news for fans and our creative industries, and it is clear evidence that our incentives are attracting the largest studios back to the UK.

‘I am personally committed to seeing more great films and television made in Britain.’

The exact locations for the production is not being confirmed, but there is speculation that at least some scenes will be shot in Scotland.



The film will be the beginning of a new Star Wars trilogy that will take place sometime after the events of Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi.

It is expected to feature a new generation of heroes, as well as an older Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia.

Then and now: Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia, recently joked that she will have to 'get in really good shape' to reprise the role in the new film

Producer Bryan Burk said the locations were ‘kind of floating around in the air all depending on script and a whole bunch of other issues’.

Multiple global locations were used between 1976 and 2003 for the production of the first six Star Wars films to provide the setting for alien planets,

Some of the early movies were shot at Ealing and Elstree Studios. The costumes of the stormtroopers, Darth Vader, and C-3PO were made by British craftspeople using ‘vacu-forming’ and sculpting

Other scenes in the first six films have been shot in the US, Tunisia, Norway, Italy and Switzerland.

Fisher revealed this month how she needs to get in shape for the the new film.

She told the Calgary Herald: 'I'm glad they are doing a new movie because they are sending a trainer to my house so I can get in really good shape.