Hogwarts takes high road for Potter III

HARRY Potter is about to weave his magic in Scotland. The next film about the schoolboy wizard will involve the biggest production north of the Border since Braveheart.

The stars of the blockbuster Harry Potter movies will travel to Scotland for filming for the first time next year - providing an expected 3m direct boost for the Highland economy and even more lucrative long-term tourism spin-offs.

Around 400 cast and crew are expected to arrive in the Fort William area in the new year to begin filming Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the next instalment based on JK Rowling’s world-famous books.

A month will be spent building sets - which will include parts of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry being erected in Glencoe, followed by two months’ filming.

Although the huge project is shrouded in secrecy, it has now emerged that the film’s makers have been holding talks with landowners including the National Trust for Scotland - which maintains Glencoe - and have made preliminary bookings for local services. Meanwhile, the film’s Mexican director, Alfonso Cuarn, was in the west Highlands last week.

The producers of the Harry Potter films have consistently refused to discuss locations and are said to be "paranoid" about secrecy. Those involved with the film have had to sign strict confidentiality agreements.

But an insider confirmed the next Harry Potter movie would involve substantial filming in Scotland. The source said: "It’s absolutely true that they will do quite a bit. Glencoe - that will be Hogwarts."

Steve McIntyre, chief executive of the film agency Scottish Screen, welcomed the prospect of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban being filmed extensively in Scotland.

He said: "We have always felt that Scotland was the spiritual home of the Harry Potter books as JK Rowling wrote them in Edinburgh and was obviously heavily influenced by the fabulous scenery around the country.

"Obviously the more that could be shot in Scotland the better the returns to the economy would be."

The move promises a huge boost for tourism in the region.

Visitor numbers at the Wallace Monument in Stirling more than doubled after Braveheart, which involved six weeks’ filming in Scotland, and Badenoch and Strathspey now markets itself as Monarch Country to cash in on the international success of the Monarch of the Glen television series.

Last night a spokesman for VisitScotland welcomed the news: "If Harry Potter is shooting in Scotland then it will put us on a significant global platform.

"We have to make sure that people watching the film know which parts are set in Scotland - and come and visit as a result."

More than 1m is likely to be spent on accommodation alone during the work on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in the Highlands and as much again on local services.

Kevin Cowle, who runs Scottish Screen’s locations service, said: "We would be surprised if less than 3m got spent on this project, if it’s at the scale we expect."

The film will construct Hogwarts sets in Glencoe, giving the school a fantastic backdrop. The glen, scene of the famous massacre of MacDonalds by Campbells in 1692, has played host to films as varied as Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Highlander and Braveheart.

The Harry Potter crew are also planning to shoot in the Fort William area, on the West Highland railway line and possibly at Glenfinnan. The Glenfinnan estate received a fee for the use of its land in the filming of the viaduct scene for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Estate manager Alistair Gibson said: " I’m prepared to say Harry Potter III was up here this week scouting Glenfinnan as far as Kyle of Lochalsh.

"Anyone living off the land is finding it difficult and along comes Harry Potter and it’s a wee bit of a gold mine if we’re prepared to mine it, without exploiting anybody."

Glenfinnan Viaduct appears in a key scene in the current film Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Hogwarts was superimposed by computer on long shots of Loch Shiel. The film took 56m in its first weekend in the United States and more than 10m in Britain.

Christopher Columbus, who directed the first two films, relied heavily on English locations for interiors and close-ups, including Alnwick Castle, as well as building huge sets at Leavesden Studios, in Hertfordshire.

But Cuarn, who directed Gwyneth Paltrow in Great Expectations, is keen to bring something distinctive to the third film - within strict parameters laid down by Rowling.

Last night, Vanessa Davies, spokeswoman for the series of Harry Potter films, said: "We don’t give away details of locations. It’s just to really try and maintain the magic for the children."