EXCLUSIVE: Stage hand on Anne Hathaway’s new movie ‘The Witches’ is ‘stabbed in neck with a Stanley knife in a row over teabags’ at the Warner Bros film studios
- Filming of the remake of Roald Dahl’s classic The Witches was suspended today
- Stage hand working on set was allegedly stabbed in the neck and hospitalised
- Claimed a member of production crew attacked him during a fight at midday
- The alleged attacker was arrested by police and the studio famous for filming Harry Potter was in lockdown
Filming on Anne Hathaway’s new move ‘The Witches’ was dramatically stopped today as a crew member stabbed in the neck
A stage hand on Anne Hathaway’s new movie The Witches was stabbed in the neck during a fight over a teabag at one of Britain’s top film studios.
Police were called to Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden, Hertfordshire, famous for filming Harry Potter, after the brawl between two crew working on the new Roald Dahl blockbuster.
Two ambulances were also called as the injured man was taken to a nearby hospital as police arrested his alleged attacker.
The scrap between a rigger and the stage hand took place as around 100 crew in total were on set in the iconic studios.
A spokeswoman for Hertfordshire police confirmed: ‘Police were called at around 12.35pm today (Wednesday, June 19) to reports of an incident at Warner Brothers Studios in Leavesden.
‘One man sustained a neck injury and was taken to hospital by ambulance.
‘A second man was arrested on suspicion of wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm and is currently in police custody.
‘It is believed the men are known to each other. Enquiries are continuing at this time to establish the circumstances around what happened.’
Following the attack, several crew members rushed to the aid of the wounded man, who is believed to have been stabbed with a Stanley knife and is in his 30s. Word about the incident rapidly spread amongst production crews working on films in adjoining studios.
Police were called to Warner Bros Studios in Leavesden, Hertfordshire, famous for filming Harry Potter, after the brawl between two crew working on the new Roald Dahl blockbuster
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were pictured larking about with Harry Potter wands at the inauguration of the Warner Bros. Studios Leavsden in 2013
One said: ‘People started messaging each other about what happened so I went out to take a look and saw loads of police.
‘We’ve heard that it was a fight between a stagehand and a rigger. This is a very big production and very embarrassing for Warner Bros. Things can get quite heated on set but I’ve never known of anything like this to happen in all the years that I’ve been involved in the industry.’
An eyewitness claimed that the dispute between the two workers escalated after one pinched the other’s teabag, according to The Sun.
Warner Bros. said they could not comment because the matter is under police investigation.
The current production of The Witches is a remake of the 1990 film and is due for release next year. It is directed by Robert Zemeckis, of Back to the Future fame, who also wrote the script. It stars Anne Hathaway, who plays the Grand High Witch, Octavia Spencer and Chris Rock. It is not known if any of them were on set when the stabbing took place.
Two ambulances and six police cars were also called to the studios today as the injured man was taken to a nearby hospital as police arrested his alleged attacker
The Warner Bros. Leavesden complex is one of the largest in the country, made up of 16 separate film studios and spread over 200 acres. It has also become famous for its Harry Potter tours and is home to some of the world’s biggest film productions.
Other films currently being shot there include Fast and Furious and an HBO production.
One of the all-time children’s favourite books, The Witches tells the story of a boy who stumbles across a coven of child-hating witches who secretly inhabit the world and fights them even after being transformed into a mouse.
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