Finn And Rose Visit Canto Bight In The Last Jedi Photo

The Last Jedi will take us to a previously unseen corner of the Star Wars galaxy.

Empire has a photo (below) that shows Finn (John Boyega) and new character Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) in the casino city of Canto Bight. Situated on the planet of Cantonica, it's a Vegas-style stopover in a universe embroiled in a never-ending battle between light and darkness. So, you know, it's good to let loose once in a while.

"I wanted a new environment that was like dunking your head in a cool bath of water, right in the middle of movie," said director Rian Johnson. "Apart from the prequels, all the touchstones that make something feel like Star Wars have to do with griminess and dirt. I wanted to do something completely different."

The location should remind fans at least a little of the Mos Eisley Cantina where Luke met Han Solo in the original Star Wars. It's a place where myriad alien species come together, mingle, and likely get into trouble. But the location plays a key part in the storyline, and Empire reports we'll see it about halfway through the movie when Finn and Rose embark on a vital mission.

Johnson said, despite what people think, he had a lot of freedom to take the film in the direction he wanted without much interference from Lucasfilm. "The perception of these films is that they're all planned out on a secret sheet of paper in advance, but that's just not the case," he said. "I wasn't given an outline of where it goes or even a list of things to hit. It really was just, 'Okay, what's next?'"

While it amounted to a lot of pressure, Johnson said he embraced the opportunity to guide the Star Wars narrative. "I was terrified coming into this that I was gonna be like Barton Fink and have a script that was due six months ago and I'm still on page three writing about fishmongers. But it's the most fun I've ever had writing something," he said. "The whole experience was incredible: just tapping into my 10-year-old self. Even though it's Star Wars, the whole thing has felt bizarrely similar to my experience making Looper or Brick or The Brothers Bloom."

Star Wars: The Last Jedi will land in theaters Dec. 15. Meanwhile, find out why it will blow you away.