Rian Johnson reveals new Star Wars 8 planet name

The new ‘Star Wars 8’ trailer gave us a glimpse of a new planet.

But what do we know about it so far?

It’s no surprise that the galaxy far, far away gets bigger and bigger with each ‘Star Wars’ movie. Known for iconic worlds such as Tatooine and Hoth, the franchise hinges on giving us strange, new worlds to explore. ‘The Force Awakens’ gave us Jakku, Takodana and D’Qar.

Now ‘The Last Jedi’ brings a cool, new planet of its own.

And it’s called ‘Crait’.

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During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, director Rian Johnson offered up some details about this strange, new world… and it sounds like it’s going to be pivotal to ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’.

“It’s way out there,” he said of its place in the galaxy far, far away. “It’s very remote. It’s uncharted. It’s a mineral planet and so there are mines on it.” He added that there are some “beautiful design elements and I hope some really unique ones that we’re able to bring into it.”

Of course, Crait is seen quite prominently in the new trailer.

There’s a beautiful shot of numerous Resistance ‘skimmers’ being flown along the surface of the planet as they head towards a group of walkers. But while its reminiscent of the Battle of Hoth from ‘The Empire Strikes Back’, this white powder is salt.

“The white dusting of salt over this red, ruby-ish mineral base,” he explained.

But why is Crait so important?

According to Johnson, it’s the site of “an old rebel base there that’s now abandoned” and apparently, the planet was one of the first ideas he had when planning ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’.

“It ends up playing a key role in the movie,” he explained, adding that Resistance fighters – who are piloting the impressive-looking skimmers in the trailer – “show up where they have to deal with a very pressing and immediate threat.”

Has the First Order got its eye on Crait?

And to what end?

For now, we’ll have to wait and see… but I get the feeling Kylo Ren has something to do with it. And that could mean it’s the home to some kind of Sith artefact. Or something far worse.

‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ will star Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher.

Rian Johnson both wrote and directed the movie.

‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ heads to cinemas on 15 December 2017.

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