The Harry Potter movies may have finished production, but that doesn’t mean that they’re leaving Leavesden Studios, the home studio for all eight movies. Warner Bros. has bought the English studio – also used for The Dark Knight and Inception – and is reported to be planning to spend around $160 million to expand and refurbish the location, including building two all-new sound stages that will permanently host sets, props and other miscellanea from the Potter movies and be open to the public to tour.
The new addition will be more museum than Universal’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park, but one that’ll come with its own charm for fans – There might not be a chance to ride on “Flight of The Hippogriff,” but with plans for the tour to feature creatures and costumes from the movies, there’s a much bigger likelihood that you’ll be able to find the Hippogriff that actually appeared in The Prisoner of Azkaban (Spoiler: He’ll probably be a tiny little model that needs the magic of CGI to look anything like he did in the movie).
The official announcement is believed to be coming on Wednesday, with work on the new home for the tour expected to be finished by 2012 – Just in time for fan grief over the lack of any new movies to reached fever pitch.
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