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12 November 2010: Rest in peace Dino de Laurentis, who passed away today.
12 November 2010: Please bear with us while the website updates continue.
6 April 2009: After only 6 weeks construction, the new Metropolitan Area sets are taking good shape - some familiar structures are back (including Brownstone Street) along with new New York skyscrapers, and some amazingly detailed architecture. Photos coming soon. We now have confirmed news on the replacement for King Kong on the studio tour - the ape WILL return. More information.
6 January 2009: Jurassic Park: River Adventure is being heavily refurbished at the present, trimming foliage and draining the water.
17 December 2008: New display in The Universal Experience about Coralie (new 3-D stop-motion animation from Henry Selick). A giant Santa hat is being sported by Krusty the Clown at the entrance to The Simpsons Ride.
15 December 2008: GRINCHMAS is back at Universal Studios Hollywood, after an almost 10 year absence. Read More.
20 October 2008: TRANSFORMERS-themed ride coming to Universal Studios Hollywood in 2011. Read More.
28 August 2008: The Collapsing Bridge is, once again, part of the Studio Tour.
23 August 2008: Halloween Horror Nights 2008 website is live!
5 August 2008: Fear Factor Live is due to close August 14th 2008 so that the Castle Theatre can be prepared for Halloween Horror Nights (Bill & Ted are back!) and then Creature from the Black Lagoon: The Musical.
29 July 2008: A gentle earthquake was felt across Southern California today. The gentle, rocking quake lasted 20 to 30 seconds in Universal City, and although there is an evacuation plan in the event of an earthquake, the quake was not strong enough to put it into action.
19 July 2008: Marc Cherry, creator of Desperate Housewives, has said the show will finish after the seventh series, in 2011 (from IMDB.com)
10 July 2008: The Collapsing Bridge is to be repaired and will be back doing it's collapsing thing for Studio Tour trams in August!
29 June 2008: A worldwide search has been launched for a copy of Vincent Ward's 1998 Academy Award winning fantasy What Dreams May Come, after the studio copy was lost in the 1 June backlot fire. Hopefully the list of prints that have been lost will not be a long one.
3 June 2008: King Kong will be replaced with a new attraction, and the New York / Metropolitan sets will be rebuilt. Timescale currently not known.
2 June 2008: A new live show is planned for 2009: The Creature from the Black Lagoon: The Musical will debut in the park (probably in Castle Theatre, replacing Fear Factor) in Spring 2009.
1 June 2008: Another massive fire on the Universal backlot destroys several soundstages, including the King Kong attraction. More information.
Although the park was originally planned to reopen at midday, fire officials refused to allow the theme park to open as normal. It's believed the park will open as normal on Monday, but this is not yet confirmed.
22 May 2008: The Universal Experience exhibition opens.
1 April 2008: Competition announced for Simpsons fans on the official ride website - your Simpsons avatar could find a permanent home in the Simpsons Ride preshow videos set in the carnival world of Krusty Land.
29 March 2008: The official Simpsons Ride website has been launched, confirming an opening date of May 17th. Construction work is going well on the outside of the building - a new 'rollercoaster' structure was added yesterday. Bizarrely, although the Orlando version was scheduled to open in March, the Simpsons Ride website doesn't have a date listed - it looks like the Hollywood version will be the first to open.
20 March 2008: We are sorry to say that Tommy Baker, who first played the role of Dracula in the Castle Dracula live show back in 1980, passed away today at the young age of 56 of a heart attack.
20 March 2008: The new Universal Museum is due to open at the end of April in the former Lucy Tribute building on the Lower Lot - more news soon.
2 March 2008: Kwik-E-Mart is still closed, and is due to reopen on March 8. Work continues on the Nickelodeon Blast Zone retheming.
10 January 2008: Nickelodeon Blast Zone closed on January 7 2008 to be rebranded to Curious George (a Universal property). Nickelodeon characters will, for the moment, remain around the park. The newly opened Kwik-E-Mart store is to be enlarged.
8 January 2008: CONFIRMED: The Lucy Tribute will close soon - possibly at the end of January, and it WILL be replaced by a Universal Movie Museum (name to be confirmed!), due to open in the Spring. The Simpsons may open as soon as May 25 (Memorial Day weekend) - opening date to be confirmed.
1 January 2008: Marvel Comics contract with Universal Studios Hollywood ended at the end of 2007, and all Marvel streetmosphere characters have now disappeared from the park. It's not yet known if this will affect Superhero Island at Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure park.
14 October 2007: The Simpsons Store on the Upper Lot opens on Tuesday 16 October!
12 August 2007: RUMOUR: Coming to the park in Spring 2008 will be a new museum showcasing some of the props, costumes, miniatures, set plans that have been used in Universal movies over the last 90 years.
12 August 2007: The Phantom of the Opera has made his debut in the House of Horrors maze. Additional props have also been added to the exhibition.
31 July 2007: New Back to the Future video competition announced. More information.
30 July 2007: Back to the Future countdown to closure - official event on 2 August.
27 July 2007: The former Wild West Arena is being prepared for a 'Friday 13th' theme for October's Halloween Horror Nights. A live Phantom of the Opera will soon be added to Universal's House of Horrors!
23 July 2007: Homer, Lisa and Bart Simpson can be seen wandering around the Upper Lot in preparation to move into Back to the Future in September. Marge will follow shortly.
The former Wild West Show arena in the middle of the Upper Lot is being refurbished in preparation for Halloween Horror Nights - more news as we get it!
9 July 2007: Back to the Future: The Ride closure date is confirmed as 3 September 2007. More information in the Press Release.
29 June 2007: Halloween Horror Nights news: Freddy, Jason and Leatherface will join the established cast of horror characters, after a partnership is struck between New Line Cinema and Universal Studios. The Hollywood Horror Nights will be October 5,6,12,13,19,20,26,27,28,31. More details on the Hollywood Horror Nights page.
25 June 2007: Cast members from the smash-hit musical Wicked will be appearing at the park over the coming weeks. Jurassic Park: The Ride is now 'wetter than ever' with 60 feet tall geysers which soak the boats after the final drop. There's even an extra dilophosaurus in the bushes as the boat returns to the station with an extra surprise soaking. The Revenge of the Mummy has some additional cooling enhancements too - the Mummy's tomb preshow room has been chilled to 60 degrees to set the atmosphere. There are also new effects at the finale of the ride.
25 June 2007: The former Time Depot store next to Back to the Future will be rethemed as a Kwik-E-Mart when The Simpsons arrive at Universal next summer. Doc Brown's Chicken will be rethemed to be a Krusty Burger.
The sets being used for production on Falls Lake and in various soundstages are strongly rumoured (not yet confirmed 100%) to be for the fourth Indiana Jones movie, currently in production. Tour guides are not able to reveal this, so will still refer to them as the National Treasure 2 sets (even though this movie is now in post-produciton, and all filming has wrapped).
23 May 2007: As well as the recently announced Universal theme park in Dubai and Singapore (due in 2010), Universal has now announced a new park in South Korea, due to open in 2012, near the scale of Universal Orlando. The deal is signed, but the location has not yet been decided, or the layout of the park.
20 May 2007: King Kong is closed for refurbishments. No news yet on what these will be, but it's been closed for a couple of weeks now. Coke Soak is also closed, probably to add some water misters to keep the heat wave at bay (see previous entry)
16 May 2007: New enhancements are in place for Jurassic Park, Revenge of the Mummy, and additional water misters in advance of the record-breaking heat wave on the horizon. Read the full press release.
1 May 2007: Universal theme park to open in Dubai! In addition to the recently announced Singapore park, another licenced Universal theme park in Dubai will open in 2010. Both parks will be on the scale of Universal Orlando.
25 April 2007: The King Kong life-size model has been removed from the Upper Lot, and now sits alongside the Fast & Furious props beside the Red Sea.
24 April 2007: The Universal CityWalk Cinemas relaunch on Thursday May 3, introducing audiences to 'The Best Movie-Going Experience in L.A.'. Oh, and there's free popcorn and drinks!!
22 April 2007: The Flintstones food outlet has closed for a week to install a BBQ pit!
17 April 2007: The official announcement about the future of BTTF has been pushed back to 24 April.
13 April 2007: It's been leaked early: The replacement for Back to the Future: The Ride will be a new attraction based on The Simpsons. More information.
10 April 2007: An official statement will be made on 17 April about the closure of Back to the Future: The Ride and what it will be replaced with. This will appear on the site as soon as it's public. Tonight, He Comes is prepping on Elm Street (with some new construction).
7 April 2007: Starship Dave (with Eddie Murphy) preparing to shoot on New York Street. National Treasure: Tomb of Secrets - effects sequence in preparation at Falls Lake, and shooting on Stages 12 and 747.
3 April 2007 - The USH website has leaked that Back to the Future: The Ride will close Summer 2007, but the statement was removed a day later. Has the timescale now changed? More as we get it!
30 March 2007 - This afternoon two teens are reported to have started a fire in the Hollywood Hills to the east of Universal City. Although USH wasn't in danger, the fire got within 50 feet of the residential complex just east of Universal. By 4pm PDT the fire was reported to be under control with little threat (other than thick smoke) to surrounding areas.
More information on the Fires page
30 March 2007 - The House of Horrors is open for a sneak preview. More photos coming soon!
1 March 2007
It's a big weekend of celebration:
Chinese New Year - March 3
Celebrate the "Year of the Pig" with performances by Chinese acrobats, stilt walkers, drum dancers and more! The fun happens inside the theme park and on CityWalk, beginning at 4:00 PM.
Learn More >> http://www.universalstudioshollywood.com/
L.A. Marathon - March 4
For the first time in history, the L.A. Marathon will be starting from Universal Studios Hollywood. Watch the start of the race, then join us for a day of thrills!
Learn more >> http://www.universalstudioshollywood.com/
28 February 2007
The new Horror maze / walkthrough ('Universal's House of Horrors') is set to open on March 31st.
20 February 2007
There's a huge plane crash scene being filmed on Falls Lake for the season finale of Crossing Jordan.
10 February 2007
Movie theaters on CityWalk are being refurbished following the takeover of the theater complex by AMC Theaters. The exterior canopy and Hulk sculpture have been removed for the moment, and the ticket booths have been moved to the right of the entrance.
22 January 2007
Jurassic Park; The Ride will be closed January 29 - February 16 for refurbishment.
16 January 2007
The War of the Worlds set has been cleared of some debris recently, exposing the Site B set from The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Is the air crash site to be cleared? More news as we get it.
12 January 2007
Stage 13 paint job is now complete behind the Blues Brothers stage. Fitting in with the Universal horror movies theme of the walk-throughs in the former Marvel Mania restaurant building, the spooky Stage 13 looks like it's been there since the Phantom shot his first movie in 1925. New video projectors have been installed in Revenge of the Mummy to improve the quality of the show. Jurassic Park continues small refurbishments - one of the raptors in the show building is getting a new skin.
7 January 2007
Backdraft is closed for refurbishment until 15th January. The left dome of Back to the Future is closed for refurbishment (preparing for a new attraction for 2008 - see below).
28 December 2006
The NBC Universal Vision Plan has a website going into great detail about the possible expansion and redevelopment of the studio, theme park and residential areas.
There's a new page on this site summarising the plans.
27 December 2006:
Three tasty tidbits for you today:
-
New Healthy Eating options in all catering outlets in the park. This means no more fries cooked in trans fat! See Food and Drink page for more.
- RUMOUR: Back to the Future will be replaced by a new simulator attraction themed around The Simpsons. Possible suggestions include 'Otto's Sprint Through Springfield' with Otto the school bus driver taking individual school buses on a madcap race through Springfield. This attraction (IF IT'S HAPPENING AT ALL!) will be unveiled with The Simpsons movie, due Summer 2007. It's hoped this would feature high quality digital projection on the same huge Omnimax screen installed for Back to the Future way back in 1993.
- Universal has just unveiled plans for a new theme park in Singapore! The new resort destination, on the island of Sentosa, will be open to the public in 2010. Read More.
21 December 2006:
Frank N Steins is gone for good.
RUMOUR: Backdraft will close once the new Universal Monsters walkthrough opens in April 2007. Could Backdraft be replaced by a new indoor rollercoaster? Would the Spiderman coaster fit in there? Will it be a new Special Effects show? More news as we get it!
RUMOUR: Back to the Future is expected to close completely mid 2007. One of the auditoria is already closed to start work on the new attraction. THIS REMAINS A RUMOUR - it's possible that BTTF at USH will NOT follow it's Orlando cousin and close. Dome 2 may simply be closed for refurbishment.
10 December 2006: Frank N Stein's restaurant is now Hollywood Photoland. Don't know if this is a temporary makeover.
7 December 2006: BUY A DAY GET 2007 FREE - Offer now on (until 31 December 2006)
Big news of the next phase of Universal's development - a residential area on empty ground on the backlot - read more.
Hollywood Cantina is closed for refurbishment. Justin Long (star of Accepted and Mac TV adverts) was spotted in the park today - photo to follow soon!
30 November 2006: Frank N Stein's Restaurant (adjacent to Van Helsing) is now closed. Could it be part of the new walkthrough (it's the same building) or is it just being rethemed? More news as we get it!
25 November 2006: The new Horror walkthrough will open in April 2007. More news to follow as we get it.
4 November 2006: As planned, Van Helsing has now closed, to be replaced in mid-2007 with a new walkthrough, hopefully based on the classic Universal Monsters. The left auditorium of Back to the Future has been closed, as preparations and testing starts for a new attraction to open in 2008. There are rumours that the whole attraction will close in February 2007.
14 October 2006
Rumour: Van Helsing is to close on November 4 2006, to be replaced by a new walk-through attraction.
13 October 2006
More work continues on Jurassic Park: River Adventure, but it's looking much better now.Halloween decorations are all over the park as the Zombies make ready for Halloween Horror Nights, starting this evening. Photos on the Halloween page.
4 October 2006
Jurassic Park River Adventure update:
GOOD NEWS: The T-Rex before the final plunge has received a major make-over, and is now fully operational after a few weeks covered in black plastic. He has a new paintjob, and the effects and lighting have been tweaked to make him more terrifying than he has been recently.
BAD NEWS: The Parasaur that pops out of the water has had some skin problems recently (resulting in one of our correspondants witnessing part of his skin popping off as he popped up). The left-hand Ultrasaur has also been under wraps for some weeks, and the area around him has been drained of water, meaning there's some fairly hefty refurbishment going on. The right-hand Ultrasaur is also in need of a bit of TLC, as his mouth skin has ripped slightly making it look as though he's foaming at the mouth...
1 September 2006
Video from The Director to publicise Halloween Horror Nights.
8 August 2006
BIG NEWS about Halloween Horror Nights
31 July 2006
New LCD video monitors have appeared on the main entrance gates, showing adverts and pricing deals.
15 July 2006
The free 'Buy a Day Get 2006 Free' Annual Pass offer ends on 31st July - get to USH to collect yours quickly!
New characters appear at the upper windows on the repainted New York Street section of the Upper Lot.
4 July 2006
Park very very busy today - 90 minute queue for the Studio Tour!! The new Zorro live street show has started on the Upper Lot, in Western Street next to the Wild West Show arena. A big action movie is shooting on New York Street.
1 July 2006
The ALL NEW Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood starts on Friday the 13th of October 2006 and continues on weekends throughout the 31st!
Check back soon for more information about the ONE Halloween event that L.A. is dying for.
20 June 2006
The cars at The Fast and the Furious now have black bases mounted on them so that you can't see the structural metalwork.
17 June 2006
EXCLUSIVE: Coming soon to The Red Sea / Prop Warehouse area: A display of past props.
Coming soon: Information on the return of Halloween Horror Nights to USH.
Coming soon: Two new musical song/dance routines on the Upper Lot featuring Marilyn and her Diamond Dolls, and a New York-themed street dance number.
The retheming on the Upper Lot Animal show is now complete - it's officially called "Universal's Animal Actors" now.
16 June 2006
The Nickelodeon Blast Zone refurb is finished - a brand new orange paintjob on the rocket ready for summer! Refurbs on the New York Street section of the Upper Lot continues, along with new paintjobs on the entrance gates, Universal logo fountain (new neon lighting). Even the bronze "crew" fountain at the Entrance Plaza is having a refurb. It seems that very little of the park is NOT being painted!!
14 June 2006
The Nickelodeon Blast Zone is closed for a quick refurbishment - the rocket has been repainted and is currently white - is this a base coat or a radical re-colour?
The Fast the the Furious opens tomorrow - who will send me the first photos?
27 May 2006
The new HD video in the Studio Tour queue premieres this weekend. The new area around the Fast and the Furious attraction on the tour is now complete - picture cars are in position on Greens Road, and the animatronic spitters are fully operational in the Jurassic Park vehicle display area. The Fast and the Furious itself should begin test runs this coming week (commencing 29 May). Photos please!!
17 May 2006
Wisteria Lane is open again! Photos on the Colonial Street page.
12 May 2006
Construction everywhere! The following areas have construction work ongoing: Studio Tour loading area (installation of high-definition screens), Animal Actors Stage, Blues Brothers Stage (?paintjob on wall behind stage), Western area / Wild West Show.
WISTERIA LANE NEWS: The street will reopen the first week in June. The end of Desperate Housewives was delayed due to Terri Hatchers eye injury.
The "Silver Screen Store" on the Upper Lot is having a "Grand Re-opening" on Tuesday.
5 May 2006
Stage 52 update completed - this is a refurbishment of the route to backstage next to Cartooniversal on the Upper Lot, to provide a much better soundstage-themed background for photos of characters in that area.
The Blues Brothers Stage is also currently closed, to repaint the wall of the Van Helsing walk-through immediately behind it, which I believe still has the paint job from the Marvel Mania Restaurant days.
No tram route past Fast and the Furious attraction (under construction).
Eddie Murphy on the backlot (Elm Street) filming forthcoming movie "Norbit".
"Ark" mounted on special effects gimbal under construction at Falls Lake for "Evan Almighty" with Steve Carell.