WARNER Bros’ £100m new studio in Leavesden, Hertfordshire, leaves the neighbouring Pinewood studio looking ‘quaint by comparison’, according to a leading UK film magazine Total Film.
The verdict will further fuel the controversy over the merits of the Manx government using millions of pounds of reserves to invest in the Pinewood film studio.
The article says the 200-acre Leavesden site is one and a half times bigger than Warner Bros’ Los Angeles headquarters.
The former airport and Rolls-Royce factory has been transformed into ‘one of the most fully-equipped and highly-polished movie-making facilities in the world – already getting use from The Dark Knight Rises, Ben Affleck’s Argo and The Hobbit before it officially opened its gates,’ Total Film reports.
It says the site boasts ‘nine colossal sound stages, a heated water tank, a runway and one of the biggest backlots in Europe’ and has been billed as ‘a studio made by film makers for film makers’.
‘With neighbouring studios at Pinewood, Elstree and Shepperton looking quaint by comparison, it’s not hard to see how much of an impact WB Leavesden will have on the British movie business,’ it concludes.
Tynwald voted in June to invest in Pinewood. The move will see Treasury buy a 19.99 per cent stake in Pinewood Shepperton from Peel Holdings at a cost of £24m and appoint the studio to act as investment manager for the Media Development fund.
Last month Michael MHK Alfred Cannan asked Treasury Minister Eddie Teare MHK about the impact of the Warner development on Pinewood.
Mr Teare said: ‘It is recognised that Warner Bros has been a major clients of Pinewood studios for a number of years despite having formerly leased the premises at Leavesden that it has now purchased.
‘Give the forecast for increased demand for studio, stage and production facilities in the UK over the next few years, the impact is considered to be minimal in the context of the overall operations on Pinewood Shepperton plc.’
