MUMBAI: Warner Bros. has formally opened its new film and TV studio in Leavesden, in the outskirts of London. Warner Bros. has filmed the Harry Potter series, Sherlock Holmes, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Wrath of the Titans here, among others.

The Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden is ‘the first of its kind to be built in the U.K. in 70 years‘ and secures the future of over a third of the dedicated major feature film production stage space in the UK. It will help further position the country as a center of filmmaking excellence."

The Hollywood studio undertook a ?100 million ($155 million) revamp of the more than 250,000 square feet complex near Watford.

The stages range in size from 10,000 to 36,000 square feet and the space also offers a series of workshops. The facilities in the studio include one of the largest heated underwater filming tanks in Europe. And the site provides a 100 acre back-lot, one of the most extensive in Europe, which the company says can be adapted for any production needs.

The studio is also home to the recently opened Warner Bros. Studio Tour London - The Making of Harry Potter, a walking tour that takes guests behind the scenes of the iconic Harry Potter movie series.

It may be of interest to know that Warner used to rent the studio space but then bought the facility in late 2010.