Just two days after I finally visited the set of a Harry Potter film, disaster struck: the Hogwarts set caught fire and was destroyed.
But fear not, for this wasn’t the normal Hogwarts sets you’re used to seeing in the movies. While sets like the Great Hall and Dumbeldore’s Office have been standing at Leavesden Studios since the first or second film and have been reused again and again, the set in question was a mock-up of the school’s front yard, which was being used to shoot scenes from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II‘s climactic Battle of Hogwarts scene.
Still, this could be a major setback for a production that is well over 200 days into filming. It’s unclear how much, if it at all, this will impact the release of the first part this November, as it’s unclear if that set was needed for any filming yet to be done on Part I.
Look for my report from the set some time this summer.