Travelsmart
With Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hitting the silver screen and with scenes shot in Jordan’s other-worldly backdrop of Wadi Rum, the country has long drawn filmmakers and producers its dramatic landscapes and landmarks.
Jordan has a rich history of film making, having famously been the setting for iconic films such as Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade, Lawrence of Arabia and the Martian.
More recently, both the Disney remake Aladdin and the iconic saga, Star Wars: Rogue One have been shot in Jordan.
From the ancient stone temples of Petra to the space-like landscape of Wadi Rum, Jordan offers a vibrant landscape with a number of potential filming locations.
Below are just some of the films that have used Jordan’s dramatic scenery, along with ways that visitors can experience the locations themselves.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Episode IX)
Having been the backdrop for the earlier edition of Star Wars: Rogue One, the new Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has been filmed in the world known desert Wadi Rum.
The Shakriah landscape was chosen for its exotic and epic locale for a galaxy far, far away.
The exciting conclusion to the Skywalker saga was filmed in Jordan over three weeks, with more than 250 Jordanian crew working across every filming department including camera, costume, stunts and special effects.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker includes returning cast members Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega and Lupita Nyong’o and will be in UK cinemas from this month.
How to experience: Follow one of the oldest monuments in modern Jordanian history, the Hejaz Railway from Amman through Wadi Rum to see some of the country’s most impressive landscapes.
For more information visit the official website.
Aladdin
Wadi Rum played a major part in the filming of the live-action remake of 1992 Disney film, Aladdin, in 2018.
The film, directed by Guy Richie, features Hollywood stars including Will Smith, who plays Genie, Mena Massoud as Aladdin and Naomi Scott as Princess Jasmine.
Smith is reportedly said to have taken the film crew to see Petra, a site that had been on his bucket-list for 20 years.
How to experience: Absorb true Bedouin culture by camping in traditional Bedouin tents under the stars surrounded by Jordan’s most ancient wonders at Seven Wonders Bedouin Camp.
For more information take a look here.
Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade
The iconic archaeological City of Petra was hidden in the mountains of Jordan for thousands of years before being rediscovered in 1812.
One of the most recognisable rock-carved tombs and temples is the Treasury, which, in the final scenes of the 1989 film Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade, which serves as a secret temple that holds the Holy Grail.
How to experience: Walk through the Siq Canyon to the visit The Treasury as Indiana Jones did at Petra and see one of the ancient wonders of the world in all its glory at night when traditional Bedouin locals play music around the temples in candlelight.
For more information visit Petra Tours.
The Martian
Wadi Rum – or The Valley of the Moon – has captured the imagination of many a director with it vast, unspoiled scenery.
Perhaps most famously, Ridley Scott chose Wadi Rum to represent Mars in the Martian in 2015, where Matt Damon plays Mark Watney, an American astronaut who is mistakenly presumed dead after being left behind on the planet.
How to experience: Stay close to one of the film locations in a one of the twenty sand-coloured Martian Domes of Sun City Camp for an out of this world experience.
For more information visit here.
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