Amazon Prime Video is acquiring an historic British film studio that served as the production home for the second season of the streaming series “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.”
Amazon announced Monday that it will be taking over Bray Film Studios, which has a film and music production history that dates back to 1951 when British production company Hammer Films first made its home there.
Located 26 miles outside of central London, the studio in Water Oakley, Berkshire, features approximately 53,600 square feet and includes five sound stages and 77,400 square feet of workshops.
Amazon already has a significant presence at Shepperton Studios in the UK, where it says it has a long-term lease for the use of nine state-of-the-art sound stages, workshops, and office accommodation.
Bray Film Studios has been home to a number of iconic film productions and music recordings. “Dracula” was filmed there in 1957 and “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” in 1974. Models and miniatures for the 1980 film “Alien” were created and shot at Bray. Eric Clapton’s 1992 album “Unplugged” was recorded in front of a live audience at Bray for the MTV television series, and the Elton John music biopic “Rocketman” was filmed at Bray in 2019.
The studio has been the production home for “The Lord of the Rings” series since 2022. The first Amazon MGM Studios production to be located at the studio post-acquisition will be the second season of the spy series “Citadel,” which is scheduled to begin filming in September.
Amazon’s $8.4 billion deal to acquire MGM Studios in 2021 was the tech giant’s second-largest acquisition ever, behind Whole Foods. Terms of the Bray Film Studios deal were not disclosed Monday.
