Warner Bros. is investing £1 billion (about $1.25 billion) in the construction of a fully functional “mini-city” that will become the setting for the new Harry Potter series, Collider reports.
According to the publication, the “mini-city” will be built based on the Leavesden studio in Hertfordshire, near London, where the original Harry Potter films were filmed. There will also be a renovated Yew Street, where Harry Potter’s relatives, the Dursley family, lived according to the plot of J.K. Rowling’s books about the young wizard.
According to Collider, the scenery will be designed to allow filming for several seasons. The series creators plan to build a full-fledged Little Winging town where the Dursleys lived, with everything necessary to organize production — new roads, multi-storey parking lots, filming pavilions, and many auxiliary facilities.
In addition to the scenery, the producers plan to build a school for child actors, a medical center, and special facilities for animals to be used during filming.
A source from The Sun newspaper said that the built village will function as “a small metropolis that will not only serve as a backdrop for the show but will also be equipped with everything necessary for the huge cast and crew” of the project.