Britain's tourism to be boosted by movies

Sherlock Holmes is packed full of recognisable London locales given the Victorian treatment, with the Houses of Parliament and the River Thames a stand-out in the trailer (Robert Downey Jr.‘s Holmes leaps from a window at the London landmark, diving into the water below – see picture.) And other places of note include St. Paul’s Cathedral and Brompton Cemetery, while journeying further north there’s Liverpool Docks and Manchester Town Hall. Not that tourism chiefs anticipate all the interest to be based solely on the onscreen sites, with other places famously linked to the fictional sleuth, such as Margate, Dover and Whitstable also expected to benefit.

Also out for festive audiences is Nowhere Boy, the tale of the young John Lennon, which appropriately heads for Merseyside to recount the early days of the Beatles legend, and as we wave farewell to 2009 and move into 2010, there are a whole host of other British-based big screen adventures to look forward to.

Robin Hood, Sir Ridley Scott’s take on Nottingham’s famous bandit starring Russell Crowe as the tight-wearing do-gooder and Cate Blanchett as Maid Marion is due out in May and stole media headlines when the production shot in Surrey and Pembrokeshire. The Wolfman, the delayed gothic horror starring Benicio del Toro as the hairy monster and with a supporting cast that includes Sir Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt and Hugo Weaving, filmed in South Yorkshire (namely Barnsley, Sheffield and Doncaster) and Derbyshire (Chatsworth House, also seen last year in The Duchess and 2005’s Pride & Prejudice).

The Wolfman is due out in February and then later in the year comes Brighton Rock, the remake of the 1947 Richard Attenborough classic. As the name suggests, it’s based in the south coast and will feature upcoming-star Carey Mulligan (currently filming Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps with Shia LaBeouf), Dame Helen Mirren and Control’s Sam Riley.

So, is Britain set to enjoy a wave of interest thanks to these movies? Could be, could be…

[via Press Association]