Warner Bros launches *155 mln UK movie studio

Warner Bros launches *155 mln UK movie studio by chocolate.boy 2012/06/13 03:47
(Reuters) - The Harry Potter film franchise is at an end, but Hollywood studio Warner Bros has extended its involvement in British cinema with the launch this week of a new 100 million pound studio complex just outside London.

The state-of-the-art film and television studios are set on a 200-acre site and include huge sound stages, one of the largest heated underwater filming tanks in Europe and a 100-acre "clear horizon" back-lot for outdoor scenes.

Warner Bros Studios Leavesden, where much of the eight-film Harry Potter series was shot, goes head-to-head with other major British facilities, including Pinewood Studios located just a few miles away.

The investment by the Time Warner Inc-owned Hollywood studio, which acquired Leavesden in 2010, has been seen as a vote of confidence in British film-making at a time of economic uncertainty in across Europe.

"We have confidence in the future of the British film industry and the production business generally, and we intend to continue to make movies and TV shows here," said Josh Berger, president of Warner Bros UK, Ireland and Spain.