The new £450M ($620M) studio backed by James Corden‘s Fulwell 73 has lost its main investor.
Cain International, the investor behind Crown Works Studios in Sunderland, has pulled out, according to the BBC. The firm confirmed its decision to the BBC but declined to comment on the reason. The studio was initially positioned as a JV between Fulwell and Cain.
A Fulwell spokeswoman told Deadline the studio “remains committed to working with the council to find appropriate private funding, complementing the combined NE [North East England] authority and wider government funding needed to make these world-class production studios a reality.”
Of the £450M, the UK government, which has repeatedly lauded the new studios in the north east of England, is providing £25M and the North East mayoral authority has committed to invest about £120m, according to the UK’s Local Democracy Reporting Service. This leaves around £300M that will need to be sought in private investment now that Cain has dropped out.
Sunderland City Council said the proposals were “being presented to the investment market, with the aim to put in place a final funder and developer later this year”.
The studio was given the go-ahead last year. Its backers say it will create 8,000 jobs and cover 1.6 million sq ft. When completed it is expected to generate £336m for the local economy every year, they say.
The news comes amid changes in the bustling UK studio space scene amid what is a difficult market for movie and high-end TV production.
Over the weekend, the five-year-old Longcross Studios, which Netflix uses to make shows like The Witcher, confirmed it will became a permanent space after it was given planning permission.
Fulwell is fresh off the back of its merger with LeBron James’ SpringHill Company, which recently raised $40M.
