London, UK: Wizarding World cast members made a special appearance at the launch of the new Gringotts Wizarding bank set at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London.
English actor and producer, Jason Isaacs who portrayed Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter film series; as well as American actor and writer, Dan Fogler and South Korean actress and model, Claudia Kim who played Jacob Kowalski and Nagini respectively in the Fantastic Beasts film series, attended the VIP event.
Guests to the exclusive evening were welcomed into the new hub by a full-size Ukrainian Ironbelly Dragon. The dragon has been created by the original team of filmmakers from over four tonnes of clay. After this mystical entrance, guests were welcomed into the authentic Gringotts Wizarding Bank.
Lined by towering marble pillars, the grand banking hall is decorated with three magnificent crystal chandeliers and finished with real brass leaf. Inkwells, quills, ledgers and piles of Galleons, Sickles and Knuts complete the goblin tellers’ desks as seen on screen. The Prop-making Department, led by Pierre Bohanna, created over 210,000 coins for the final two films alone.
Gringotts Wizarding Bank is famously run by goblins. Walking through the imposing marble columns, guests can discover the costumes and prosthetics belonging to Bogrod, Griphook and many other goblin bankers. Each prosthetic mask took weeks to create, with every hair individually inserted and veins painstakingly painted by hand. It took four hours to transform actor Warwick Davis into Griphook in the films, which included him wearing black contact lenses and dentures with extremely sharp teeth to complete the goblin look.
Once through the banking hall of Gringotts, visitors can enter the depths of the Lestrange Vault used to store the treasures of Bellatrix Lestrange, including the Sword of Gryffindor and Helga Hufflepuff’s Cup, one of Voldemort’s many Horcruxes. During filming 38,000 pieces of rubberised treasure were created for the Lestrange vault including 7,014 Hufflepuff Cups.
Officially opening on Saturday 6th April, the 16,500 sqft Gringotts Wizarding Bank expansion is the Studio Tour’s biggest addition to date and has been designed and built by many of the original crew members who worked on the hugely successful magical film series.