Oxfordshire Village Earns ‘£1 Million’ Via Brad Pitt’s WWII Movie “Fury”

Brad Pitt in Fury Set
Brad Pitt in Fury Set

Fury, the WWII tank movie starring Hollywood A-lister Brad Pitt wasn’t that popular among the residents of the Oxfordshire village of Shisburn, the place where the movie’s team decided to do majority of the shoot – seven weeks to be exact.

The locals had to put up with a lot of noise from explosions during the whole shoot; even the production team has admitted filming in a close-knit community would have its difficulties to the locals.

“We know that filming in a close-knit community over seven weeks can at times present some challenges for the residents but we appreciate our mutual business relationship,” Ethan Smith, one of the film’s producers, claimed in a letter to the community.

But using the village as the film’s location is not without benefits and it has been revealed that the WWII movie Fury has brought about a £1 million add-on to the local economy, at least that was the estimate of the production company. This earnings came from crews eating in local pubs and doing shopping in local stores throughout the two months’ shooting.

Brad Pitt, no stranger to filming in the UK as he did so for his previous movie World War Z, thanked the locals for putting up with him and the rest of the movie’s crews and for their “warm welcome” during the shoot.

“We’ve experienced incredible hospitality and appreciate the warm welcome we’ve received from the local community,” he stated in a message of gratitude addressed to the community.

The Oxfordshire village might appreciate the economic advantage it got from the film but the relationship it had with the crew wasn’t always smooth sailing. Just last month the film’s team had to apologize for shooting some scenes even when it was Remembrance Sunday as locals found it to be a disrespect to the occasion.

A stabbing incident also occurred within the set last October — a stuntman was hurt accidentally with a bayonet while filming a one-on-one fight scene. However, authorities did not treat the event as a crime and the stabbed stuntman was promptly airlifted to the John Radcliffe Hospital.

Brad Pitt and Shia LaBeouf Filming one Fury Scene
Brad Pitt and Shia LaBeouf (in helmet) Filming one Fury Scene

WWII movie Fury, which also stars Transformers actor Shia LaBeouf and Michael Peqa is set to come out in November 14 next year.

– www.entertainmentwise.com reports

Heziel Pitogo

Heziel Pitogo is one of the authors writing for WAR HISTORY ONLINE