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Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical is currently streaming on Netflix. A fresh take on the Tony and Olivier Award-winning stage musical (2011) based on Dahl's 1988 novel Matilda, the new movie has been directed by Matthew Warchus.
The film's screenplay was written by Dennis Kelly. According to the OTT giant, the synopsis for the new film reads:
"Matilda, an extraordinary girl armed with a sharp mind and a vivid imagination, dares to take a stand against her oppressive parents and head teacher to change her story with miraculous results."
The musical stars Alisha Weir, Lashana Lynch, and Emma Thompson in key roles.
While Weir plays the titular character of Matilda Wormwood, Thompson portrays Miss Agatha Trunchbull, the main antagonist. Meanwhile, Lynch’s character is Miss Jennifer Honey.
To note, prior to its OTT release, Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical was released theatrically on Friday, December 9, 2022, earning $19.7 million worldwide.
Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical: Filming locations, budget
The team behind Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical had planned to kick-start shooting at Shepperton Studios in Surrey, England, in August 2020 and continue till December of that year. COVID-19, on the other hand, hijacked that schedule, with cameras finally rolling in May of last year.
Netflix had reportedly bought rights to Dahl’s work for $446.11mn (current rate) or 370mn pounds and assigned a production budget of $1bn for Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical.
The Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical team utilized this fund by shooting in Shepperton Studios and several other locations in the UK. Some portions were shot in the Irish capital city of Dublin as well. Lets take a look at the film's shooting locations, shall we?
1) Bramshill House, Hampshire
Bramshill House, located northeast of Hampshire, was where the exterior scenes for the fictional Crunchem Hall Elementary School in Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical were shot. Known as one of the most important and largest Jacobean prodigy house mansions, it was built in the 17th century.
In 1952, it was marked as a Grade I-listed building and was sold to City & Country, a heritage property developer, in 2014.
Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical aside, several episodes of Amazon Studios-backed Hanna were also filmed in Bramshill House.
2) Shepperton Studios, Surrey
The Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical crew used Shepperton Studios extensively for their sequences. The musical was filmed on 9 stages of a total of 14 and a backlot of the 91-year-old film studio.
Shepperton Studios is currently controlled by Buckinghamshire-headquartered multinational film studio and TV studio company Pinewood Studios Group.
Apart from Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical, top productions like Love Actually (2003), The Sandman series, Enola Holmes 2 (2022), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Downton Abbey, Beauty and the Beast, and Gladiator, among others, were shot there, too.
3) Bison Hill Car Park, Dunstable
Warchus and his team set up camp in August 2021 at Bison Hill Car Park to film the countryside and windmill scenes. They created a replica of the Cobstone Windmill, a historic smock mill that was built in the early 1800s.
Located on Turville Hill in Buckinghamshire, Cobstone Windmill came into the spotlight after the 1968 musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was released.
According to Netflix-owned company Poppet Productions, they selected Bison Hill car park because of its “outstanding aspect and views that give an unbeatable backdrop for the scenes being filmed.”
ZSL (expanded to the Zoological Society of London) Whipsnade Zoo, Dunstable, also served as one of the shooting locales for Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical.
In a letter to residents, Poppet wrote that they will shoot in Dunstable from August 23 to 25, 2021.
4) Denham Village, Buckinghamshire
Denham, a village and civil parish, under Buckinghamshire is located 27 km away from central London. Interestingly, one can reach Dahl’s Great Missenden house in just 25 minutes from Denham!
In Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical, shots of several mobile library stops beside a white-fenced park were filmed in Denham.
Apart from the locations mentioned above, the new movie was also filmed in places like Dublin-based River Liffey, Christ’s Hospital, and Itchingfield, both in West Sussex’s Horsham district.
Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical can be streamed on Netflix.
