So, it would seem that the US gets a giant theme park in the form of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter but over here in good ‘ol blighty, we’re going to get to keep all the sets and get a major studio coming along for the party! The Financial Times (and backed up by this tweet from WB which initially got my attention) has reported that Warner Bros. is attempting to buy and then expand Leavesden Studios which, as the tweets says, is the ‘home of Harry Potter”.
The studio is just outside of London near Watford and the FT are reporting that:
Warner Brothers will today (27th January) register plans to establish a permanent base in the UK as part of an estimated £100m-plus investment that would make it the only Hollywood major to own a studio outside the US.
This is great news for the UK film industry as it will encourage new big budget movies to be made here, especially if plans are approved to expand the studio. The Dark Knight was filmed at Leavesden which means that it’s more than likely the third installment, whenever that happens will be filmed here. This will make Warner the only major studio to have a base outside of the US.
The new plans involve building two new permanent stages, refurbishing the existing buildings and redesigning its 100-acre “backlot”, the area used for shooting outdoor scenes. A person familiar with the plans said Warner Brothers wants to make Leavesden a European hub for post-production, including visual effects, animatronics and film editing in the UK, and believes that it will attract film business to the country.
More info as we get it.
