Pinewood Studios was built on the estate of Heatherden Hall, a large Victorian country house which was purchased by Canadian financier, and Member of Parliament (MP) for Brentford and Chiswick, Lt. Col. Grant Morden (1880–1932).

Due to its seclusion, it was used as a discreet meeting place for high-ranking politicians and diplomats; the agreement to create the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed there.

Boot named the new studio Pinewood because "of the number of trees which grow there and because it seemed to suggest something of the American film centre in its second syllable".

On 30 September 1936, the studio complex was officially opened[5] by Dr Leslie Burgin, Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade.

That enabled several pictures to be filmed simultaneously and, ultimately, Pinewood achieved the highest output of any studio in the world.

As well its use by the armed forces, the Royal Mint and Lloyd's of London were installed on sound stages at Pinewood, and were open for business for the duration of the war.

[citation needed] Two significant films produced at Pinewood were released within two months of each other in 1948: Oliver Twist, directed by David Lean, and Powell and Pressburger's The Red Shoes.

The Carry On franchise began in 1958, produced on behalf of Rank by Peter Rogers (who was married to Box), and directed by Gerald Thomas (brother of Ralph).

Four James Bond movies, For Your Eyes Only (1981), Octopussy (1983), A View to a Kill (1985), and The Living Daylights (1987), among several other large productions, such as Pink Floyd – The Wall (1982), Superman III (1983), Krull (1983), Legend (1985), Aliens (1986), Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket (1987), Santa Claus: The Movie (1985) and Tim Burton's Batman (1989), were all produced at Pinewood.

[18] The 007 Stage was originally built for the Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and featured one of the largest water tanks in Europe.

[24] Pinewood Studios paid tribute to Richard Attenborough's body of work by naming a purpose-built film and television stage after him.

[citation needed] Return to the Edge of the World (1978) includes shots of director Michael Powell driving into the studio.

[citation needed] The main gate (no longer used due to the construction of a purpose-built security entrance 500 m (1,600 ft) further along the road) also features in My Week with Marilyn (2011) when Eddie Redmayne greets Judi Dench.

[citation needed] The studios have acres of backlots where large sets have been built, from castles to whole villages including the Baker Street set built for Billy Wilder's The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes and Godric's Hollow from the Harry Potter film series.

Burnham Beeches was used for Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, First Knight, Goldfinger, The Princess Bride and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Fahrenheit 451 at Black Park.

[citation needed] The studios announced in April 2013 that its first film production facility in the United States would be located south of Atlanta at a complex consisting of 280 ha (690 acres) in Fayette County, Georgia.

Planned zones include a college campus, Amsterdam, modern European housing, Venice, Lake Como, Paris, an amphitheatre, Prague, west coast American housing, warehousing and downtown New York sets, Chicago, Vienna, a castle, a UK canal, Chinatown and a London street market built.

However, the planning application was rejected by South Bucks District Council in October 2009, following a opposition campaign by local residents, who formed a "Stop Project Pinewood" group.

The chief executive of the studios, Ivan Dunleavy, said he expected to appeal against the latest decision to the Secretary of State, Eric Pickles, who rejected the previous application, a year earlier.

[36] On 19 June 2014 it was reported that Pinewood Studios had received approval to go ahead with the multimillion-pound expansion plans which would see it rival Hollywood film sets.

The inaugural Pitch winner was Simeon Lumgair's Derelict (2009);[39] the most recent as of 2020[update] was Oneikeh Campbell's Five Thousand Stars (2020).