SACRE bleu! Filming for the Harry Potter TV series has begun — in France.
US media giant HBO has dispatched crew to the rocky Île de Sein off Brittany, seemingly forgetting the Britishness of the boy wizard adventures.
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The new Harry Potter series has begun filming at an island off the coast of FranceCredit: Getty
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The new actors for the Harry Potter television series were unveiled this week, Dominic McLaughlin (centre) will take on the lead role of Daniel RadcliffeCredit: HBO
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How Nick Frost will look like as Hagrid in the series
The island is thought to be the setting for scenes in the Hut-on-the-Rock, a dilapidated holiday shack where Hagrid turns up to announce: “You’re a wizard, Harry.”
In the books, the hut is on an island off Cornwall — rather than five miles off one of the westernmost points of France.
But producers insisted on using it as they thought it a suitably windswept location.
A TV insider said: “This caused a certain amount of amusement among the British crew who all agreed that they could have easily got windswept in virtually any part of the British Isles.
“They’ve been slightly bewildered by the fact they’ve actually gone to France to make a show which is so British — particularly since it’s the first place they’ve gone to and they’re doing key scenes there.
“For fans it’s likely to be a sign that with American producers running the show, it might not be as mindful of Harry Potter as a national treasure that shouldn’t be tampered with.”
A film crew of about 30 is said to be camped at Pointe du Raz on the west coast of Brittany and every day they travel backwards and forwards by boat to the island.
On a rocky outcrop off Île de Sein is the supposedly haunted 19th century Tévennec lighthouse, which may end up being used as the Hut-on-the-Rock in the final edit.
The surprising choice of location comes after HBO this week announced that young Scottish actor Dominic McLaughlin would be taking on the lead role previously played in the movies by Englishman Daniel Radcliffe.
He will star alongside Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley, characters depicted in the films by Emma Watson and Rupert Grint.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001) Official Trailer
Between 2001 and 2011 they starred in eight movies, all made in the studio or on location in Britain.
Bath, Oxford and London were among the cities where scenes were filmed, while more remote locations in Durham and the Scottish Highlands were also used.
Warner Bros has invested millions of pounds in rapidly expanding its studio at Leavesden, near Watford, to accommodate shooting of the TV adaptation of all seven on JK Rowling’s books.
The Sun exclusively revealed how the complex would include a new version of Harry Potter’s childhood home on Privet Drive.
Hagrid, Hogwarts’ groundskeeper played by the late Robbie Coltrane in the movies, will be played by Nick Frost.
Meanwhile, John Lithgow will be the wizard school’s headmaster Albus Dumbledore and Paul Whitehouse will appear as its caretaker, Argus Filch.
The series is expected to drop next year — although it is not confirmed which service will take it.
HBO declined to comment on the use of a French location.
But Île de Sein does have a magical link — it was, legend has it, home to virgin druid princesses with the power to take on animal forms, just like Animagi in the Potter stories.
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The hut-on-the-rock is an important location in Harry Potter loreCredit:
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The famous scene sees mentor Hagrid turns up to announce: ‘You’re a wizard, Harry’Credit: Alamy
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