After CNN raised the alarm over jihadist activity in Tunisia's Tataouine – the inspiration behind Luke Skywalker's home planet of Tatooine planet in Star Wars – local officials have spoken out to deny that the actual sets, which are on the other side of the country, are under control of ISIS.
From the original CNN report:
The desert and dun-colored cliffs around the town of Tataouine were once the backdrop for the movie "Star Wars," much of which was filmed in this neglected corner of Tunisia in 1976. This struggling town on the fringes of the Sahara still draws a few fans of the movie but now finds itself part of a real conflict, as a way-station for jihadists crossing the Libyan border 60 miles to the east.
That CNN report snowballed as other media outlets picked it up - leading to headlines such as "ISIS has taken over the real-life Tatooine."
But a tourism official in Tozeur, the town on the other side of the country where the sets from the movies are located, has rejected speculation that the Star Wars sets are under threat.
"This information is false and without foundation and doesn't reflect the reality," said Mohammed Sayem, a member of the tourism commission in Tozeur.
Tunisia has capitalized off its link to the movies, drawing Star Wars fans to visit the sets near the western city of Tozeur.
A member of the Tunisian national guard assured AP that the area around the sets was safe, with 1,500 troops maintaining stability in the area.
Even after the assurances from Tunisian officials, Twitter is split between people sharing the original story and those trying to clear up the confusion. Along with a dose of reality from certain tweeps pointing out the absurdity of worrying about film sets in a country that just had a terrorist attack in the capital and faces a real threat from ISIS.