AN AMERICAN film company enlisted the help of a hot air balloon company in Winchester for a new movie.
A team of actors and crew members from Warner Bros were in and around the city filming a new film adaptation of Around the World in 80 Days.
The group stayed at the Winchester Hotel, in Worthy Lane, before being picked up at 6am on August 15 by Atmosphere Hot Air Balloons.
The production team originally wanted to fly over the English Channel but the owner of the Winchester-based hot air balloon tour agency, Jonathan Greatrix, assured them it would be too difficult.
The film stars instead took off from Winchester Rugby Club, before landing on the edge of Alresford with all filming being wrapped up by 10am.
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Mr Greatrix said: “It was really good fun. I got a phone call from Warner Bros London and Sweden that they were making a new film and wanted to use our hot air balloons to film.
“Winchester gets picked for all sorts of filming and it was an honour for our business to be chosen. It was all very cool – they all had phoney pretend luggage and were filming from on top of our Land Rovers.
“It was fun to fly with them and fun to watch. Of all the companies they could have chosen, they chose us. I didn’t know any of the actors as they were all Swedish.
“As a hot air balloon company, we get to do all these weird and wonderful things and we always say yes to everything.”
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After landing in Alresford, the crew headed off to The Bush Inn in Ovington for more filming and for lunch, as arranged by Mr Greatrix.
The team ordered 10 lunches, bringing lots of business to the 17th-century riverside pub.
Although Atmosphere Hot Air Balloons has been involved with all sorts of projects, such as weddings and trialling software, this was the first time the hot air balloon company had worked on a major film.
Mr Greatrix said: “We had only done a minor film before. But recently we have been working with Amazon as it's planning to do all its deliveries using drones so we’re flying out with anti-collision software to make sure it will work for the drones.”
The Around the World in 80 Days cast and crew caught the train to France after their time in Hampshire, going around the world in 36 days to produce the film.
The new Warner Bros movie is expected to be released during autumn of next year.
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