Date: 23rd December 2002

Next Potter film could be made in Glencoe


Warner Bros is planning to film the third Harry Potter movie in the Scottish Highlands early next year.

Glencoe is being considered as the site for Hogwarts School for the third installment.

Filming of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), involving around 400 cast and crew, could begin in February and last until May.

The company has asked to build a film set in a venture which could reap around £3 million for the local economy.

Studio bosses have lodged a planning application with Highland Council whose members are expected to give a decision next month.

A council spokeswoman confirmed the planning application includes a gatehouse, sundial garden and stone cottages, which form part of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which Harry attends.

The spokeswoman said: "The planning application is for structures that they are building on a hill and they require planning permission because they are going to be there for longer than 28 days. They are expected to be here from February until May."

The application is to build the film set at Torren on the edge of the village of Glencoe, and close to the Clachaig Inn, a popular attraction for hillwalkers and climbers. The area of Lochaber in western Scotland is no stranger to major productions.

In the summer of 1995, Mel Gibson was near the town of Fort William shooting parts of Braveheart, and in the same year Liam Neeson was in the area to film Rob Roy.

Highlander, starring Sean Connery and Christopher Lambert, was also filmed in parts of Glen Nevis.

Source: Press Release