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Films

Films which have been shot in the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley include:

The Secret Garden (2020)

Produced by: STXfilms
Starring: Colin Firth, Julie Walters

An adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s beloved children’s classic. Viewers will be able to spot the enchanted woodland of Puzzlewood, which features as one of the key secret garden locations for the film. Release was initially planned for spring 2020 but was delayed due to COVID-19 until the autumn.

View the trailer which features Puzzlewood here:

Dream Horse (2020)

Produced by: Film4 Productions
Starring: Toni Collette, Damian Lewis

Filmed at Chepstow Racecourse, the film tells the true story of the horse Dream Alliance, who was bred and owned by a group of friends and won the Welsh Grand National in 2009 at Chepstow Racecourse.

Aeronauts (2019)

Produced by: Amazon Studios
Starring: Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne

Filmed over Herefordshire, the rolling green hills serving as Victorian England. The balloon set off on the outskirts of Ross-on-Wye and was noticed by many due to its unusual shape when filming took place in September 2018.

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)

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The Huntsman: Winter’s War (2016)

Produced by: Roth Films
Starring: Emily Blunt, Chris Hemsworth, Jessica Chastain, Rob Brydon, Charlize Theron

This fantasy action movie is an adaptation based on the German fairytale ‘Snow White’. The Huntsman is a sequel to the 2012 blockbuster movie, Snow White and The Huntsman.

Key scenes were filmed in Puzzlewood during the summer of 2015 and the attraction features prominently in the trailer:

A Midsummer Night's Dream (2016)

Produced by: BBC Wales. Adapted for television by Russell T. Davies
Starring: Maxine Peake, Matt Lucas and John Hannah

A magical woodland full of mystical creatures? Only Puzzlewood could serve as the location for this modern re-telling of the classic fantasy drama by William Shakespeare. A star-studded cast and a Dr Who writer combine with euphoric effects and melodramatic storytelling.

Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)

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Jack the Giant Slayer (2013)

Produced by: New Line Cinema
Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Ewan McGregor, Warwick Davis

Directed by major Hollywood director Bryan Singer, Jack the Giant Slayer stars British actor Nicholas Hoult as Jack, a young farmhand who sets out to rescue Princess Isabelle from the giants who have stolen her away after he inadvertently opens a gateway to their world. If Jack can rescue her the conflict between giants and humans can be ended. It is based on the children’s story book ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’.

Created by Longcross Studios, the blockbuster film was set in amongst the magic of Puzzlewood. In the movie, Puzzlewood features as the forest of Gantua, the world in which the giants live at the top of the beanstalk, into which Jack travels to find Isabelle.

View the trailer which features Puzzlewood throughout including at the very beginning:

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part One (2011)

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Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Produced by: Paramount Pictures
Starring: Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Tommy Lee Jones

Set predominantly during World War II, the film tells the story of Steve Rogers, a sickly man from Brooklyn who is transformed into super-soldier Captain America, after taking a dose of a secret super serum, to aid in the war effort. Being a superhero comes at a price when his main objective is to fight crime.

The Hollywood production was filmed in various places in the UK including an ex-Royal Naval Propellant Factory in Caerwent, Wales.

Born of Hope: The Ring of Barahir (2009)

Produced by: Actors at Work
Starring: Christopher Dane, Beth Aynsley, Kate Madison

A prequel to the Lord of the Rings the film is based on J.R.R. Tolkien's writings in the Appendices of the Trilogy. The story is set in the time before the War of the Ring and looks at the lives of the Dunedain.

Scenes were shot across the Forest of Dean including Puzzlewood and Clearwell Caves. Watch the trailer here.

Outlaw (2007)

Produced by: Pathe Productions
Starring: Danny Dyer, Sean Bean, Rupert Friend

Action movie Outlaw follows a group of people who feel betrayed by their government and police force and form an outlaw-posse in order to fight for what they believe is right.

The film is set in Britain in 2006. Sean Bean plays a soldier who returns home from duty to find that the country for which he has been fighting has become a war zone itself thanks to rampant crime. He joins forces with likeminded people to take on the evil that threatens to take over his home.

This action movie was filmed in many locations within the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley including Lydney, Cardiff, Bream, Coleford and Gloucester.

Arthur's Dyke (2001)

Produced by: Evolution Films
Starring: Pauline Quirke, Rebecca Lacey, Robert Daws

The film of Arthur’s Dyke follows the adventure of three men going on the longest walk of their lives as they attempt to recreate their conquest of the Offa’s Dyke Path 20 years earlier.

Chepstow provided a back drop to this comedy in 2001 as well as a number of businesses in the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley. Many locals also were able to take part in the filming as extras.

Just Visiting (2001)

Produced by: Hollywood Pictures
Starring: Jean Reno

In 2001, Hollywood remade a hugely popular French comedy blockbuster movie entitled Les Visiteurs. The American version was entitled Just Visiting. The story centres on a medieval knight who accidentally time travels to the 21st century thanks to the efforts of an incompetent wizard.

The medieval knight finds himself contending with 21st century life. However, before this turn of events we see the knight in the splendid surroundings of forests and castles and the film’s opening woodland scenes were filmed on location at Lydney Park Gardens.