JAMES BOND - HOLLYWOOD WRITERS' STRIKE HITS U.K.

HOLLYWOOD WRITERS' STRIKE HITS U.K.

LATEST: London's Pinewood Studios - home to JAMES BOND and THE DA VINCI CODE - has become the first U.K. casualty of the American screenwriters' strike. The imposed shutdown means filming on the Da Vinci Code prequel Angels and Demons - which had been due to start early next year (Feb08) - has now been halted. The news follows reports that a number of big-budget Hollywood movies have been put on hold because of the crippling strike. In a statement, Pinewood Shepperton plc said the shutdown would result in losses of around $6 million (GBP3 million), and attempts to replace the lost revenues would be "challenging" given the Writer's Guild of America strike. The next Bond movie is still scheduled to shoot at the studios next year (08).