21/06/2005

The leading UK and TV film studios Pinewood Shepperton issued a profit warning yesterday based on difficult trading conditions due notably to the loss of Paramount Pictures’s blockbuster thriller The Watchmen which abandoned its plans to shoot in the UK last April and caused a £2.2m (€3,31m) loss in incremental revenues to the company.

According to the UK studios, no firm contracts with another US major has been signed since May, and the "protracted uncertainty over the future UK fiscal policy," as well as "the adverse dollar/sterling exchange rate" have made it more difficult for the company to achieve its anticipated market estimates.

The studios currently hosting the shooting of Basic Instinct 2, said that its operating profit for the half year ending June 30th, would be slightly below market estimates at around £2m (€3m). This figure does not include the recent acquisition of the Teddington Studios, bought last April precisely to lower its dependency on film revenues and diversify its revenue stream.

Paramount’sThe Watchmen is just one of many high-profile US big budget films that are looking for cheaper shooting options –mostly in Eastern Europe– than those offered by UK studios facilities as a whole. The James Bond franchise which used to be a Pinewood loyal customer, is now most likely to shoot its new 007 adventures in Prague’s Barrandov Studios, and the fifth Harry Potter film is now eyeing for other shooting possibilities in the world that in the UK.