Movie-makers and stars flock to the UK as wokery and Covid bring Tinseltown to ...

Movie-makers and stars flock to the UK as wokery and Covid bring Tinseltown to ...
Movie-makers and stars flock to the UK as wokery and Covid bring Tinseltown to ...

For two decades, New Zealand's vertiginous mountain ranges and sweeping valleys have been synonymous with big-screen versions of The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings.

The movies have raked in more than £3.6 billion at the global box office and were so important to New Zealand's national identity that the country's tourism board spent millions on adverts imploring fans to visit the 'Home of Middle-earth'.

So when Amazon Studios announced last month it was switching the filming of its new £700 million – as-yet-unnamed – television series based on The Lord Of The Rings from New Zealand to Britain, the news sent shockwaves through the industry.

Tom Cruise and Esai Morales wear safety wires during filming for Mission: Impossible 7 in North Yorkshire

Tom Cruise and Esai Morales wear safety wires during filming for Mission: Impossible 7 in North Yorkshire

Not just in New Zealand, but Los Angeles, too. An extraordinary boom in British film-making means some of Hollywood's biggest names have popped up in the most unlikely places.

Harrison Ford has been spotted filming the fifth Indiana Jones movie in Glasgow, Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland and currently Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire.

Robert Pattinson recently finished shooting the latest Batman movie, with Glasgow serving as the 'rugged' backdrop for Gotham City.

Marvel Studios chose Burghley House in Stamford, Lincolnshire, to double as Wayne Manor, Batman's house.

Tom Cruise is filming Mission: Impossible 7 in the Lake District this week, having been spotted in Birmingham's New Street Station, the Peak District, at a quarry in Derbyshire as well as in North Yorkshire and Bedfordshire.

Big-budget films in production here include Doctor Strange 2, Aquaman 2, Fantastic Beasts 3 and Matilda.

While the 'golden triangle' of film-making is around London and the South East, with major studios such as Pinewood, Elstree, Shepperton and Bray, filming is expanding to Wales, Scotland and throughout the North.

One senior studio executive said: 'The Tolkien films put New Zealand on the map as far as millions of moviegoers were concerned. The films boosted tourism and injected millions into the economy.

'When Amazon announced it was packing up and moving the entire production to the UK, it was monumental.

'It's proof positive that the UK is now leading the world as far as movie and TV production goes. Britain is beating Hollywood at its own game.'

A point not lost in California. Because however damaging this might be to the Covid-hit Kiwi economy – still isolated from the wider world – it's in Los Angeles that the real concern is mounting.

Harrison Ford plays Indiana Jones in leaderfoot in the Scottish Borders Scotland alongside actor Toby Jones

Harrison Ford plays Indiana Jones in Leaderfoot in the Scottish Borders alongside actor Toby Jones 

Today, 18 months into the pandemic, the studios lie idle for fear of Covid, and Americans are looking across the Atlantic where, as one insider put it, 'you guys are eating us for breakfast'.

'The lots in LA are virtually empty,' says a Disney Studios executive. 'Sound stages are shuttered. There's a sense of fear in Hollywood, everyone is looking over their shoulders, no one wants to make the call to go back to work.

'Some productions are back up and running, but it's small-scale: daytime soap operas and things like that. The Brits have been bullish and it's paying off. Hollywood is running scared.'

To add to its woes, the American industry is mired in growing acrimony as woke executives stand accused of pushing white writers and performers to the margins.

While Tinseltown is still struggling to get back on its feet, Britain has enjoyed a combination of lucrative tax incentives, skilled crews and state-of-the-art facilities – plus a £500 million Government-backed insurance scheme to reimburse studios for days lost to Covid shutdowns.

Even TV production in the UK is booming, spurred by 'off-the-chart' demand from consumers of streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon, Apple and Disney Plus. It's 'gone completely nuts', one LA executive says.

Shows under way in Britain include the second series of Netflix's historical drama Bridgerton, season five of The Crown, Ted Lasso season three, Peaky Blinders series six and Outlander series six. 'I've never worked so hard or done back-to-back productions like I have in the past year,' one Oscar-winning creative explained.

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