Is Dubrovnik the “Exotic City” from The Force Awakens Concept Art?

Title

Ever since fans caught their first glimpse of Dubrovnik and the production photos for Episode VIII, speculation began to circulate about the beautiful Mediterranean city.  From familiar planets like Naboo to a brand new never-before-seen location, theories have abounded surrounding the Croatian maritime town.

One of those theories connects the new location with early concept art for a location that would ultimately become Takodana in The Force Awakens.  Hit the jump to see some concept images of “Exotic City” and decide for yourself if it is indeed the inspiration behind the Dubrovnik location.

Before there was Takodana, there was “Exotic City”, the location where the new heroes of The Force Awakens would come into contact with Han Solo before making their way to Princess Leia’s castle.  The design of the city, as pushed by production designer Rick Carter, was originally supposed to have a Casablanca feel, but it later evolved into a more simple design that was inspired largely by a painting from famed Star Wars concept artist Ralph McQuarrie.

 

Exotic 001

 

The location was eventually blended with the castle concepts and took on a whole new look for The Force Awakens, but from looking at the original concept photos, one can easily see a lot of similarities between the “Exotic City” concepts and the Dubrovnik location and set photos from Episode VIII (here, here, and here).

 

Exotic 002 Exotic 003

 

You can definitely see some similarities in the rounded doors and the panels next to them. Also some of the lighting bodies seen in the art are very similar to the lamps on Dubrovnik’s main street. And the comparison in the title image really speaks for itself.

Using this unused concept art from TFA for what is most likely a brand new location in Episode VIII makes perfect sense. Productions do this all the time, and it would have been a great loss to trash these great designs and not use them.

 

Special thanks to Cantina member Lego Han for the images with the art of “Exotic City”.

Also it appears that our friends from Star Wars Post have a similar article, that you can check out HERE.

 

 

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Jordan Pate is Co-Lead Editor and Senior Writer for Star Wars News Net, of which he is also a member of the book and comic review team. He loves all things Star Wars, but when he's not spending time in the galaxy far far away, he might be found in our own galaxy hanging out in Gotham City or at 1407 Graymalkin Lane, Salem Center, NY.

Jordan Pate (Hard Case)

Jordan Pate is Co-Lead Editor and Senior Writer for Star Wars News Net, of which he is also a member of the book and comic review team. He loves all things Star Wars, but when he's not spending time in the galaxy far far away, he might be found in our own galaxy hanging out in Gotham City or at 1407 Graymalkin Lane, Salem Center, NY.

25 thoughts on “Is Dubrovnik the “Exotic City” from The Force Awakens Concept Art?

  • March 8, 2016 at 8:42 pm
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    What I’d give to see the Falcon fly over that city.

    • March 8, 2016 at 10:09 pm
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      You’re welcome… 😉

      • March 8, 2016 at 11:34 pm
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        Ha ha ha ha.

  • March 8, 2016 at 8:43 pm
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    well… maybe… like how in the arricle was mentioned a “Casablanca” feel, as I watched that film yesterday XD

  • March 8, 2016 at 8:51 pm
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    Thats what I thought too. This is the location from the TFA art book.

    The Cloud City of VIII

    Also part of Star Wars Land at Disneyland

  • March 8, 2016 at 9:04 pm
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    I have the TFA Art book and love it. As soon as pictures of Dubrovnick surfaced I thought they looked very similar to the concept art. Those images in the art book were some of my favorite so I’m really excited to see how this plays out.

  • March 8, 2016 at 9:17 pm
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    Dubrovnik is on the Adriatic sea, not mediterranean. Think its pretty awesome though

    • March 8, 2016 at 9:22 pm
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      the adriatic sea is considered part of the mediterranean sea 😉

    • March 9, 2016 at 3:49 pm
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      The Mediterranean is the entire south european and north african sea. The Adriatic is the part of the Mediterranean between Italy west coast and the balcanic peninsula.

      I’m italian and I live very near the Adriatic coast 🙂

  • March 8, 2016 at 9:28 pm
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    i did raise this point when i first saw they were filming there. its very similar

  • March 8, 2016 at 10:02 pm
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    I don’t see the similarities between an arabic city and a European baroque city. Rounded doors and panels are common in Star Wars universe. You have them in Naboo, you have them in Tatooine, in Hoth…

    • March 9, 2016 at 3:51 pm
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      Well… the panoramic view is very similar. The two cities are not the same, but the feeling is very close. So, why not?

      • March 9, 2016 at 8:26 pm
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        Yes I agree with you, the panoramic view is pretty similar.

  • March 8, 2016 at 11:05 pm
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    They so should have used this rather than the very pedestrian looking Takodana but glad to see it now even if it is slightly similar to Naboo.

    • March 9, 2016 at 2:26 am
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      Every film has it’s own stuff.

    • March 9, 2016 at 7:22 am
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      Yes Snark. We know. You hate JJ Abrams and Episode VII. You were the first person to realize it isn’t a good film, and one day not far from now you’ll be able to tell us all “I told you so” when we realize how much we dislike the film.

      I can’t wait until Episode VIII comes out and you compare every scene in that movie to Episode VII and tell us how you believe it to be superior in every way.

  • March 9, 2016 at 12:07 am
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    I looked up those “Exotic City” photos in the The Art of the Force Awakens (pages 108-109), and they are indeed a close match. The 4th and 5th photos in this article are actually one amazing wide panorama photo. Anyone who has not yet picked up a copy of the book is really missing out. There is a ton of jaw-dropping artwork in there.

    • March 9, 2016 at 11:36 am
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      Yeah – whatever your feelings on the film the book is a thing of beauty.

  • March 9, 2016 at 12:55 am
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    Indeed, very similar. I assume they realized this is still a very cool concept, even if they found it not to be fitting for TFA. I’m convinced they really wanted a rougher look for TFA, one of the reasons why seeing the republic for those 2-3 seconds felt kinda out of place.

  • March 9, 2016 at 2:31 am
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    I’m betting these concepts were cut from TFA for plot-pacing issues. Having an extra 20 minutes devoted to showing what this awesome city looks like, while a cool city, would have been a massive drain on the plot’s pacing. Making Maz’s Castle isolated by its lonesome was a good move.

    I can kind of imagine at some point they stopped and said, “You know what, this is getting too complex, we need to just focus on Maz’s Castle and save this kickass city concept for another movie where we can actually give it the screen-time it deserves.”

    It’s awesome these concepts are being put to good work elsewhere. I’ve a feeling this Dubrovnik-based location is gonna’ be one of my favorites across the saga, just a hunch.

  • March 9, 2016 at 8:56 am
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    world-building world-building world-building 😀

  • March 9, 2016 at 10:32 am
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    It makes sense not to throw away great concept art. I’m curious what place this is!

  • March 9, 2016 at 3:45 pm
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    The new location is indeed the “Exotic city”. The similarities are too much, and the panorama is very close to Dubrovnik’s.

    I’m way more hyped…

  • March 9, 2016 at 4:10 pm
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    Yeah, those evidences are little too obvious not to be true. Still, there is a little possibility of surprises after all.

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