It's official boys and girls. According to digitialspy.com, Warner Bros have officially completed its purchase of Leavesden Studios, the Watford facility where all the Harry Potter films were shot, and unveiled plans to invest £100 million to create its own TV and film production base in the UK.
Immediately following the purchase, Warner Bros will establish Warner Bros Studios, Leavesden and also making it the only Hollywood studio to currently own and operate a production facility in Europe and the first studio to do so since MGM in the 1940s. Once the re-development work is complete, Warner Bros claims that the Leavesden site will feature one of the largest backlots in Europe, representing around a third of the dedicated stage space for film production in the UK. The facilities will be used for major Warner Bros productions, as well as third-party film, TV and advertising productions. Warner Bros has used the studio just outside Watford since 2000, including the production of all eight Harry Potter films, as well as The Dark Knight and Inception. After receiving all the necessary planning approvals, the company will now redevelop the 170-acre site and its studio facilities, increasing the ability to provide services such as visual effects, prosthetics, animatronics and film editing. The development will also create 300 new jobs, including specialist contractors. Also the re-development of the Leavesden site commences with immediate effect and the new facility is scheduled to open in mid-2012.
So what do you guys think of this new move by Warners?
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