U.N.C.L.E. and the crowded U.K. filming scene

U.N.C.L.E. insignia from a second-season episode

The Los Angeles Times has A STORY TODAY about the booming U.K. movie industry. One of the people interviewed is Guy Ritchie, director of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. movie and an old hand at filming movies in England.

An excerpt from the end of the story:

Like others, English director Guy Ritchie, who has made two Sherlock Holmes movies for Warner Bros. in Britain and is now at work on “The Man From U.N.C.L.E,” is noticing his home turf getting more crowded. While shooting a car chase at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, which he had also used in his 2005 film, “Revolver,” and in “Sherlock Holmes,” Ritchie noted that the location has popped up in several other movies, including “The Dark Knight Rises,” “Skyfall” and “Les Miserables.”

“Maybe the novelty will wear off,” Ritchie said. “I quite like it, because I can go home at night. I don’t know who the chap is that got this going. Whoever he is, I’d like to take him out for a drink.”

The U.N.C.L.E. movie is based out of Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden. The site is a former factory converted into a movie studio for the production of 1995’s GoldenEye. Warner Bros. used Leavesden to film the Harry Potter movies. Warner Bros. bought the studio in 2010. Warners spent more than 100 million British pounds to rebuild and expand the studio, according to the official website for Leavesden tours.

The Los Angeles Times story by Rebecca Keegan provides details of how the movie boom came about, including tax incentives, the country’s ” tungsten northern light,” and work rules that appeal to studio bosses. The story also references a number of current and upcoming U.K.-based films. The list includes the next Star Wars film that will be shot at Pinewood Studios, the tradition home for James Bond films. To read the entire story, CLICK HERE.

Separately, the Henry Cavill News fan website PUBLISHED A POST of photos shot by a fan identified as marliimarl_ of an U.N.C.L.E. boat chase with stars Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer participating. The post includes a couple of videos that Henry Cavill News also uploaded to YouTube.

U.N.C.L.E. movie supposedly gearing up in the U.K.

“What do you think about that, Illya? We never got more than 30 miles away from Culver City.”

A movie version of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. is supposedly gearing up at the same studio complex where GoldenEye, the 17th James Bond film, was filmed.

The Screen Daily Web site has AN ARTICLE about how U.K. film studios are being booked with work, helped by a new tax credit. Here’s an excerpt:

Over at the Warner Bros Studios Leavesden, the Wachowskis are shooting Jupiter Ascending. Rush director Ron Howard has exchanged Formula 1 cars for the world of whale hunting with his new feature In The Heart Of The Sea. Meanwhile, The Man From UNCLE is also revving up at Leavesden.

The Leavesden studio is a former Rolls-Royce PLC factory. It was turned into a studio for 1995’s GoldenEye when Pinewood Studios, the traditional home of the 007 film series, was fully booked. Warner Bros. acquired the studio in 2010 as a European base of operations.

The Screen Daily article doesn’t have any more details about the U.N.C.L.E. project. The story mostly details how other major projects, including a new Star Wars film and The Avengers 2 may be filmed in the U.K.

The original 1964-68 U.N.C.L.E. series, starring Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, was filmed at the old Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios in Culver City, California, and the show never ventured more than about 30 miles away.