Disney has reached a long term deal with Pinewood Studios near London to use most of their stages and backlots for film production starting in 2020.
Pinewood Studios via Variety
What’s happening:
- Variety is reporting that The Walt Disney Company has reached a deal with Pinewood Studios for long-term production on their lot.
- The deal is scheduled to being in 2020 with Disney using the studios’ “stages, backlots and other production accommodation” for future films.
- According to a report in The Times of London, the deal would grant Disney use of nearly all of the stages and backlots at Pinewood, with the exception of some television studios.
- These terms are reportedly good for 10 years.
- Pinewood’s U.K. studio has been home to many big budget films such as The Hobbit movies and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.
- Speaking of big budget features, Disney/Lucasfilm is no stranger to Pinewood, having filmed several Star Wars installments there.
- It’s worth noting that this deal follows a recent agreement between Netflix and Pinewood’s sister campus, Shepperton Studios.
- Variety points out that Disney’s and Netflix’s presence in the U.K. is likely to raise concerns about studio space in Britain, especially for independent and small film companies.
- However, Pinewood and other studios in Britain are in the process of expanding their lots. In 2016 Pinewood added five sound stages and have plans for an additional six to open in 2020.
What they’re saying:
- Paul Golding, chairman of the Pinewood Group Ltd., in a statement: “It’s wonderful to have Disney here at Pinewood. They’ve been making great films with us for many years, and the fact they want to shoot so many more here is testimony not only to the quality of the teams and infrastructure at Pinewood but also to the British film industry as a whole.”