Netflix’s ‘Narnia’ Scenes to Film Inside One of the World’s Tallest Studios
NarniaWeb has learned that scenes from Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Narnia adaptation will be filmed in Hangar 2 at Cardington Studios in Bedford, England. Filming is expected to take place from mid-October through to Christmas.
Originally built to house airships during the first World War, Cardington’s massive hangars were later converted into film studio space. Over the years, they’ve hosted other large blockbusters, including Inception, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and The Dark Knight.
With ceilings reaching 158 feet high — compared to Shepperton Studios’ maximum of 45 feet— Cardington is one of the largest indoor spaces in all of Europe and is more than five times the size of the largest soundstage in Hollywood.
Production designer James Chinlund was previously described to us as having “huge ambition” for the project’s scale. To help realize that vision, NarniaWeb can first report that Academy Award-winning Set Decorator Lee Sandales (Wicked, 1917, The Batman) has been tapped to collaborate on the production design.
Locals have also spotted directional signs marked “OT” on roads leading up to the studio, similar to those seen around filming locations in Bradford and London, indicating that production activities will be ramping up shortly.
“OT” refers to the film’s working title, Ordinary Time — a phrase taken from The Magician’s Nephew when Digory resists Jadis’s temptation to steal the Apple and gain immortality for himself or his mother.
Which scenes do you think could be filmed here?
Stay tuned to NarniaWeb for more details on filming at Cardington, Shepperton, and Longcross Studios over the coming months.
Have a scoop or inside information about what’s happening at Cardington Studios? Send us an anonymous Spy Report and let us know!
Might be where the creation of narnia will be filmed
Awesome news! Inception had some epic visuals. And it’s fascinating that someone who worked on Wicked is now on the crew. Given that Wicked is a fantasy epic. But, of course, Wicked the musical has a very different tone than The Magician’s Nephew, the book.
This is cutting edge reporting Narniaweb! Thankyou for your hard work!
Cardington studios was used mostly for indoor scenes in the movies listed above (Yavin 4 Base from Rogue One, Rotating hallway and elevator shaft scenes from Inception, Underground freeway scene from the Dark Knight when the Joker was chasing Harvey Dent). It was also used for the Rebel Base in the original Star Wars and the Game of “Red Light, Green Light” in Squid Game. It could be a very good sound stage for some of the interior scenes in Charn! 🙂
Big fan of the sets for Lee Sandales movies!
Just checking out his IMDB and he’s got an incredibly impressive resume! Looking at behind the scenes footage on Wicked specifically, you can just sense the care that went into designing and detailing those sets.
I’m hopeful for that element on Narnia.
I think the creation scene or Fledge’s flight with the children would particularly benefit from Cardington’s height!
Not only would the height be good for the flying scenes with Fledge, but they could also build a really tall pool for the pool diving scenes lol.
When will be filming done completely?
As most of us usually feel slightly disheartened at a great part of the news, I’m glad to hear some uplifting (possibly literally lol) news!
Whether they use it for Charn or creation or the flight with fledge – sounds like stunning visuals and I’m excited for that!! (Although I do hope that the creation scene will become the most memorable of the three.)
Little birdie tells me a lot has been ongoing recently elsewhere on an offsite set. Watch those OT signs…!
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Jadis’ castle in Charn!
@Ada filming is supposed to be wrapped before Christmas and then post-production picks up in the new year. I don’t think we’ve heard of any pick-ups planned 🙂
Hopefully they’re going to be filming some book scenes 😉
I’ve realised that 4.5 months of principal photography for a big budget film sounds really short. Is this a really short production period?
Theres a lot of units and sets people haven’t located…
So are they done shooting outdoors? The couple of comments seem to suggest that there are other sets other than at Cardington Studios, but I don’t see it reported anywhere?
I really hope we get some more outdoor locations for the Narnia scenes because I’m pretty sure we’ve only seen London-based scenes filmed so far.
No they’re not.
Things hit a snag due to illness.