No, Disney Is Not Using Drone Warfare to Keep Prying Eyes From 'Star Wars' Set

Sometimes, the headline is just too good to be true.

That’s the case with a flurry of headlines Monday that said Disney was deploying an army of drones to protect the set of the upcoming “Star Wars” movie from spies using other drones.

Gizmodo, Popular Mechanics, The Next Web, Making Star Wars and a number of other outlets cited a report from the Croatian fan site MosCroatia that is said to outline Disney’s multimillion-dollar effort to fend off drone spies with a drone army of its own. A source close to the production told Re/code that “the reports are untrue.”

Though the drone story might be false, Disney has gone to great lengths to keep any secrets about the “Star Wars” movies from leaking. There were no early screenings for outsiders of “The Force Awakens” prior to its Dec. 14 world premiere. Actors cast in that movie (like Oscar Isaac) had to read the physical script in a camera-filled room. And director J.J. Abrams was quite loud about how he didn’t want any plot spoilers to get to the press.

The next “Star Wars” movie, the eighth installment in the sprawling, decades-long space opera started by George Lucas back in the 1970s, doesn’t have a name yet. It’s being directed by Rian Johnson, who also made the excellent movies “Brick” and “Looper.” It’s being filmed in Croatia (among other places), and you can watch a very short production announcement of the movie below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQQMLE4FuIQ

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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