By As we all wait for the Lucca Games & Comics panels at the end of the month, where Lauren S Hissrich, Andrzej Sapkowski and others will present a new trailer for The Witcher, we’ve heard something quite intriguing about the production of season two.
Nothing is officially confirmed yet, so take this with a pinch of salt. A source close to the production claims The Witcher won’t film season two in Hungary, but someplace else. We haven’t heard where they might film instead or why such a decision was made.
This would be a major change from season one as the vast majority was filmed in and around Budapest, Hungary, including in some of its most well-established studios: Origo and Mafilm.
As we warned above, nothing is confirmed. This is from a single source, but one who would have an idea of this being the case. Because we heard it, we wanted to pass it on to you, too.
It’s also worth mentioning that location changes sometimes happen at the last minute. For instance, some of season one was initially planned to be filmed in South Africa, but that never came to be. Instead, they chose the Canary Islands.
Previous rumours from Recapped claimed season two would begin production either December 2019 or January 2020. There isn’t any word whether those dates are still on the table. Dates, just like locations, are subject to shifting at any given moment if necessary. Still, assuming they have indeed already made a decision on not returning to Hungary, the deadline could well be in the next couple of months.
Perhaps The Witcher not returning to Hungary only means that Budapest would cease to be the main base of its production. They could still have their main studio elsewhere and return to film in Hungary in a lesser capacity. Keep in mind, the majority of season one was filmed in Budapest, and one would assume they’d want to come back for continuity purposes (a simple example being if they ever need the exact same location that they established to represent a certain place in The Continent).
UPDATE: It has been brought to our attention that in July, Netflix made a deal with Shepperton Studios to create its UK production hub featuring 14 sound stages, workshops and office space, slated to open in October. Shepperton Studios has been the base of operations for numerous major productions, including Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Avengers: Endgame, and Downton Abbey.
The announcement reads as follows: “Netflix and its partners will produce new and existing TV series and feature films at the iconic Studios, which are owned by the Pinewood Group.”
It’s possible that this information, which didn’t seem interesting at the time, might be a valuable piece of the puzzle. Perhaps The Witcher will continue its life at Shepperton Studios, in the United Kingdom rather than in Budapest, Hungary.
Moving to Shepperton would make things much easier for cast and crew as they would be in their own country, and travelling would be less time-consuming. Additionally, most of season one’s post-production took place in London with Lauren S. Hissrich presiding over a bulk of it.
We’ll be keeping an eye out for more information on this rumor.
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