The Walt Disney Co. has struck a long-term deal with historic Pinewood Studios outside London to take nearly all its stages, backlots and other production accommodation. The arrangement is expected to begin in 2020.
“Its wonderful to have Disney here at Pinewood,” Paul Golding, chairman of the Pinewood Group Ltd., said in a statement. “Theyve 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.”
Golding is a partner at private equity firm Aermont, which bought the Pinewood Group for $446 million in 2016. The financial terms of the long-term deal with Disney were not disclosed.
Over the years, Pinewood Studios has been the production home of numerous James Bond films and a favored facility for other such blockbusters as the “Hobbit” movies and “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.” Disney has used the facility most recently for its new “Star Wars” installments. The Times of London reported that Disneys deal would give the Mouse use of almost all of Pinewood, except for a couple of television studios, for 10 years.
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The deal with Disney comes two months after Netflix announced a similar arrangement to set up a production hub at the U.K.s Shepperton Studios, which is also owned by the Pinewood Group.
Together, the Netflix and Disney deals are sure to deepen concern that studios space in Britain, already in scarce supply, will now be even tougher for smaller companiOriginal Article
