Warner Bros. Discovery is making major investments into building sets at their studio space in Leavesden, England. They're practically building whole cities over there. In just the past couple weeks, we've gotten glimpses of new sets going up for the third season of House of the Dragon. WBD is also building a whole complex for its upcoming Harry Potter TV show, including a giant set meant to represent Harry's unhappy childhood home at 4 Privet Drive, not to mention a whole school where the young cast members will be educated right there at the studio.
What I didn't realize is that the sets are very near each other. In the below photo from @UnBoxPHD, you can see them both: that's the House of the Dragon set on the left, and Privet Drive on the right:
Let's take a closer look. Here's the set for Privet Drive by itself.
It feels a little odd that they're going to this much trouble to create Privet Drive, which is supposed to be an ordinary neighborhood in England. Surely it would have been cheaper to find some real place that stands in for Privet Drive? But maybe they're doing something we don't know about yet.
And here's that House of the Dragon set:
Specifically, this is the town of Tumbleton, the site of a key event in the upcoming third season. But no spoilers.
Sets for Harrenhal and the Red Keep rise for House of the Dragon season 3
The Harry Potter sets are pretty new; that show should begin filming this summer. The third season of House. the Dragon is already filming, and the sets are very impressive. Here's the crumbling castle of Harrenhal, where Daemon Targaryen spent a lot of time in season 2:
And here's the Red Keep of King's Landing, where Aegon Targaryen sits the Iron Throne...until recently, anyway:
If the Harry Potter show is as big a success as Warner Bros. Discovery wants it to be, visiting that set and the set of House of the Dragon at the same time could make for a hell of a vacation.
House of the Dragon season 3 is due out sometime next year on HBO and HBO Max. The Harry Potter show will likely air after that, although it's unclear if it'll begin sometime in 2026 or if fans will have to wait until 2027. Either way, WBD has some big shows on the way.
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