What was filmed at Canary Wharf?

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Stormtroopers rush along a futuristic silver-grey platform that looks uncannily similar to Jubilee line station

In a London underground station not so far, far away, a scene in the latest Star Wars blockbuster was filmed. But identifying exactly which one, featured in a new trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, has caused much debate online.

Fans of the science fiction series were quick to spot the familiar backdrop in one scene of the teaser clip, released on Thursday, that appears to be a Jubilee line underground station.

Rogue One clip - but what’s the station?

Stormtroopers rush along a futuristic silver-grey platform that looks uncannily similar to a station on the most recently revamped line. On Twitter, most commentators claimed the station, which appears in the trailer after 1 min 10 secs, was Canary Wharf.

The Guardian’s Alex Hern at first was sure it was North Greenwich:

... but then backtracked:

Others also said it could possibly have been filmed at Canada Water or Westminster, but these theories were soon thwarted.

It is likely to be Canary Wharf, part of the Jubilee line extension which was completed just before the millennium and has special platform-edge doors that open automatically when trains arrive. The station also features central escalators between north- and southbound platforms, which look to have survived post-production on Star Wars: Rogue One.

Much of the filming for the last film, The Force Awakens, took place at Pinewood Studios, located near London, but the cast and crew have travelled to several places around the world to film scenes for the more ethereal and sandy locations.

Mimicking planets featured in previous films, the latest instalment uses the dunes in Tunisia, where scenes for the Tatooine desert were filmed, glaciers in Norway used as the backdrop of ice planet Hoth, and Death Valley in California for the scene in which C-3PO and R2-D2 arrive at the home of Jabba the Hutt.

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Topics

• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

• Star Wars
• Science fiction and fantasy films
• London
• London Underground
• news

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Canary Wharf is well known for its futuristic architecture and modern vibe. So it's no surprise that filmmakers have been using the district as a backdrop for some amazing science fiction movies over the years.

Canary Wharf is located in the borough of Tower Hamlets, on the north bank of the River Thames. It’s a bustling urban centre filled with office towers, stunning waterfront views, and world-class attractions and a world-famous financial district in London. Originally a busy dockland area, Canary Wharf was transformed into a modern business hub in the 1980s. Today, it is home to some of the biggest banks and businesses in the UK, as well as over 200 shops as well as a host of restaurants, cafes and bars.

One Canada Square

Canary Wharf Station

Canary Wharf Jubilee line station was constructed in 1999 to accommodate rapidly increasing traffic at Docklands Light Railway station. The architect for this project, Sir Norman Foster designed it with an interior capacity of 50 thousand daily passengers that includes some very interesting features like its glass canopy entrance ways and topped by Jubilee Park!

Canary Wharf Station

In a galaxy not so far away…

Canary Wharf is the perfect setting for filming and movie production, offering a mix of modern facilities, stunning backdrops, and exciting opportunities for collaboration.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, known more simply as Rogue One, is a 2016 American epic space opera film directed by Brit Gareth Edwards.

The Scarif Citadel Train Station is in fact the inside of Canary Wharf where Alliance rebels Jyn, Cassian, and K-2SO walk through the Citadel in their disguises. They discover that the Empire’s blueprints for its secret Death Star have been hidden in a base on the planet Scarif. A group sneaks in on a suicide mission and are soon being chased by stormtroopers.

Canary Wharf Station

This isn’t the first time that a major Hollywood production has been filmed at Canary Wharf station. More recently it has been used as a filming location for Men in Black: International where M catches the express train from New York to the M.I.B. London offices.

Canary Wharf station was also Epsilon Train Station in the utopian TV series Brave New World, set in New London and appears in “In the Dirt” & “Soma Red”.

With so much of Canary Wharf featuring striking modern buildings, it’s surprising that more futurist movies haven’t been filmed here.

Reflections of Canary Wharf