Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video has made another big move into the UK film and TV industry by acquiring the 70-year-old studios where The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is filmed.
Financial details of the deal for Bray Film Studios were not disclosed, with the first Amazon production to roll cameras there set to be the Russo Brothers’ second season. Citadel series in September. Amazon MGM Studios was initially listed as the acquirer of Bray, before being moved to Prime Video.
Amazon, which already leases production facilities at Shepperton Studios in the UK, will produce TV series and feature films for streamer Prime Video from the Berkshire site, about 26 miles from central London. The acquisition includes about 53,600 square feet of filming space across five stages, 77,400 square feet of workshops, 39,400 square feet of offices, 182,900 square feet of backlot and 156,000 square feet of parking space.
Prime Video has released the second season of The Rings of Power Bray, which is widely considered the most expensive television show of all time. Other projects recently filmed at the studio include Rocketman, Dracula And The king’s man.
“With Bray as our creative home in the UK, we are committed to deepening our relationship with the UK creative community, which is full of world-class storytellers and creative talent of all kinds,” said Mike Hopkins, Head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios. “Acquiring a studio with such a historic heritage not only allows us to produce more films and TV shows in the UK, but also opens up many opportunities in the local community for employment and skills training at all levels of the production process.”
Bray is over 70 years old and was created by Hammer Film Productions in 1951 before being sold 20 years later. It was sold once more in 2014 and resumed filming five years later before finally being sold The Rings of Power. Further, it has welcomed artists such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Mummy, The Curse of Frankenstein and Terence Fisher Dracula.
Frank Burke, chairman of Bray, said the studio has held “an important place in the history of British cinema” over the past 70 years. “During our ownership, my family, team and I have witnessed the rebirth of this iconic facility and we are extremely proud of the role we have been able to play in restoring it to renewed prominence. We are now extremely pleased to be passing the studios on to Amazon, who we believe share our commitment to quality and excellence and are ideally suited to preserve the character of the studio whilst enhancing world-class creative production spaces for generations of filmmakers to come.”
Bray is only the second UK site to be owned by a US studio, after Leaveseden, owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The move comes more than two years after Amazon signed a multi-million pound deal with Pinewood subsidiary Shepperton Studios to lease facilities there for the next decade, putting it alongside Netflix, which also has studio space on the site. Disney also leases space at Shinfield Studios.
The news comes six months after Amazon submitted a written report to a parliamentary committee warning the UK government not to take for granted the country’s status as a production hub to rival Hollywood. The streaming giant had said US studios could move filming in the “short term” if the UK became a less competitive location in the coming years.
A fierce battle has recently erupted for studios in the UK, taking advantage of local tax credits and a wealth of talent now that the US strikes and the worst impacts of Covid-19 have passed. Fulwell 73, James Corden’s film and TV studio, is opening a £450 million ($578 million) studio in the north-east of England, while other sites have sprung up in London, Scotland and Manchester. A $950 million studio backed by James Cameron in Buckinghamshire was recently refused planning permission.
