Filming begins in the UK on Maleficent 2

Filming is now underway in the UK on Maleficent 2 starring Angelina Jolie.

The feature is a follow-up to the 2014 film that became the fourth highest-grossing movie of that year, with worldwide box office receipts of more than $758m.

Maleficent 2 is directed by Joachim Ronning and is the latest in a long line of Disney films to shoot in the UK, with the studio’s The One and Only Ivan (on which Jolie is a producer and also among the voice cast) and Artemis Fowl also currently in production.

Disney films to have shot largely in the UK last year included Aladdin, Mary Poppins Returns, Dumbo and Christopher Robin.

The British Film institute released stats earlier this year that illustrated how inward investment projects are breaking production spend records in the UK. Visiting feature films spent nearly £1.7bn in the UK in 2017 – the highest figure since records began and a 23% increase on the previous year.