Star Wars and the Production and Circulation of Culture along Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way PATRICK BRODIE T HE WILD ATLANTIC WAY CAMPAIGN HAS OVERSEEN THE REBRAND- ing of the west of Ireland into a smoothly travelable global destination for tourists. While tourism and the “wild” imagi- naries of the western regions of the country far predate the cam- paign’s 2014 launch, they are strategically mobilized within the corporate strategy of tourism body F  ailte Ireland to brand the country as a place teeming with authenticity, thrills, and creativity, as well as heritage, tradition, and natural beauty. The entanglement of “wild- ness” and “development” has significant implications for cultural pro- duction and tourism. The infrastructures of the Wild Atlantic Way are strategically paired with other development projects in order to reposition the Atlantic seaboard of the country as a vibrant hub for global visitation, whether tourism, business, or industry. The largely rural west is thus central to the Fine Gael govern- ment’s future-leaning Ireland 2040 and Creative Ireland projects. While tourism obviously plays a huge role due to its importance to rural economies, this study focuses on these frameworks’ location of the creative and specifically audiovisual industries as crucially impor- tant in conjunction with tourism (Government of Ireland 2017, 2018). The country has seen a recent influx of global media produc- tions, from Star Wars to Vikings, making use of the natural and built environment, both for their own utility and for the generous financial incentives. Sites of media production are designed to become sites of media tourism. All along Ireland’s Atlantic coast, visitors can The Journal of Popular Culture, Vol. 53, No. 3, 2020 © 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC 667