25/03/2005 - The film production of the fifth installment of the popular Harry Potter books could be heading for Prague as a result of the disappointment of the film’s UK producers

The film production of the fifth installment of the popular Harry Potter books, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix could be heading for Prague’s Barrandov Studios. Rumor has it that this is a result of the disappointment of the film’s UK producers, who see film tax incentives being stripped down by the UK government and actively seek to take the production abroad. Prague’s proximity to the UK and much lower filming costs have place the Czech capital on top of the candidate list, but a decision will not be taken sooner than next May, according to the Barrandov Studios boss Radomir Docekal. He argues that the decision should also be influenced by the cost of moving the very particular Harry Potter construction sets to Prague, which might end up being higher than actually remaining on UK soil.

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Although the deal will be a major boost to the Czech film economy which slowly but steadily has been losing out to cheaper locations like Romania, the majority of the Czech dailies, used to this kind of attention to Prague’s locations by the big European or American production houses, did not report on the news. Only Mladá Fronta Dnes carried a story on the cover page with a reference to a similar report on Britain’s Daily Express while quoting Docekal. "I can only confirm that I have met with the film’s producers but everything remains on the air" Docekal told the newspaper. If the agreement is confirmed, filming will not start earlier than the spring of 2006. The fourth installment of Harry Potter movies, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire which is set to appear in cinemas around Christmas, is currently in post-production.