Live Your Hollywood Dream, James Bond Style

Living the 'Hollywood life' is every movie buffs dream. And, at least for a few, it will soon turn into reality. Denham Studios, the production studio of some of Hollywood's most famous film series like Star Wars, ET and James Bond, has been taken by Weston Homes, which will turn it into a Hollywood-and Art-Deco-inspired residential address. Built in 1936, the Buckinghamshire studio had shut shop in 2014.

The £120-million project will have 224 homes. Of them, 154 units will be one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, while 70 will be four- and five-bedroom townhouses. To own an apartment here, you will have to shell out between £350,000 and £1.5 million; the project will be well-connected to London via road and rail.

To retain a British Hollywood experience alive at the site, 12 acres in size, the developer will create a Beverly Hill-like feel and have installations spread across the complex along with a screening room to showcase the legendary movies from the studios here. Interestingly, the developer also plans to name the streets in the complex after famous films, actors and directors. 

The Denham Studios site. (Google Maps)

PropGuide shares some interesting facts about the Denham Studios.

• The studio: The Denham Studios, which had a lab and a head office, was built in 1936. It was designed by Walter Gropius for Alexander Korda, a famous British film director and producer.

• Area: The studios sit on an 11.94-acre site and have an Art Deco-inspired architecture.

• Employer: In the 1930s, the studios employed 1,200 people and in the 1970s there were about 700 employees here.

• The movies: Some of the legendary names that made these studios the workplace for processing their movies were Alexander Korda, Steven Spielberg, Stanley Kubrick, Michael Winner, Cubby Broccoli, Peter Jackson and Ridley Scott.

• Royal visitors: Apart from the names from the film fraternity, the studios were also visited by the royalty. Queen Mary came visiting in 1937, and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1938.

• The cine portfolio: Among some of the most famous movies produced here are GoldenEye, Quantum of Solace, Tomorrow Never Dies, Eyes Wide Shut, Skyfall, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Treasure Island, Clash of the Titans, The Great Escape, Goodbye Mr Chips, In Which We Serve, Brief Encounter, Aliens, ET, Superman (all three), Full Metal Jacket and War Horse.

• Technology: In their heyday, the Denham Studios had the most advanced laboratories; more than 500 million feet of films were rolled year after year.

• James Bond editing room: When it was opened, the studios had an Art Deco stairwell featuring glass block windows, film processing and editing rooms. Interestingly, one editing room was dedicated exclusively to the James Bond movies. It stored the original script and footage of all Bond movies.

• Furniture: The top floor of the studio was a plush office area which adorned the furniture from the movie My Fair Lady. On the ground floor were two mini-theatres that were used by directors to watch the rushes (raw footage).

• An in-house sea: There also was a large water tank which was used for shooting some of the scenes of movies like The Cruel Sea, Treasure Island and The Dam Busters. This water tank was later turned into a car parking.

• The military connection: The studio, sold to Rank Organisation in 1939, were used by the US military during the World War II to review top-secret footage and photographs from the Nazi-occupied Europe. The studios were returned to Rank once the war was over. Later, in 2006, the company sold the studios to MacAndrews & Forbes.

• The end: The studios closed down in 2014, after digital filming became more popular, making the process of traditionally shot films redundant.

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