The UK is home to Hollywood once more…
It’s turning out to be yet another bumper year for Hollywood filmmakers coming over to make use of our fabulous UK studios, crew and cast.
So with the help of our extensive database, we bring you a two-part round-up of some of the main players setting up camp on our shores. Full details on the films, including studios, shoot dates and crucial hires such as line producers, production managers and casting directors can be found on Production Intelligence.
Film production spend in the UK reached £1.1bn last year and a staggering 81% of this came from international film productions – this figure presents a very strong case for us not to underestimate the power of the Hollywood big bucks and what their mass arrival means for the British production industry or the economy as a whole.Â
And Hollywood films don’t come much bigger than Disney/Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: Episode VII, which landed at Pinewood in May. Rarely has there been so much press speculation and feverish social media activity as wild guesses were made at casting, locations and plot. (Shameless plug: this may be a good time to mention that over a year ago, we had details of the crucial decision-maker for the UK listed on Production Intelligence, just saying…)
The Mouse House is also making another play for our facilities and crew as it sets up Through the Looking Glass, the sequel to Tim Burton’s 2010 hit Alice in Wonderland. Burton is taking a producer’s role this time; the film has James Bobin (Muppets Most Wanted) in the director’s chair. Anglophile Johnny Depp is back in Blighty for this one as he reprises his role of The Mad Hatter.
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Talking of sequels, the fifth in the high-octane Mission: Impossible series is currently gearing up, directed by Christopher McQuarrie for Skydance Productions. Tom Cruise is back as both leading man and producer and, as we know his predilection for filming at iconic London landmarks (see Edge of Tomorrow’s Trafalgar Square scenes), maybe someone should let any resident royals know in case he has his sights set on Buckingham Palace…
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Next we head to the jungle, and the new version of Tarzan from Jerry Weintraub/Warner Bros. Alexander Skarsgard dons the loincloth for this one, and is joined by a starry cast including Margot Robbie, Samuel L Jackson, Djimon Hounsou, Christoph Waltz and Osy Ikhile. Our very own Harry Potter helmer David Yates is calling the shots. Quite a roster of A-list visitors for the denizens of north Wales – just one of the locat
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