A massive fire at Universal Studios Sunday destroyed much of the New York City streetscape and other movie sets, causing tens of millions of dollars worth of damage, but no injuries were immediately reported. The fire, which broke out around 4:30 a.m. Sunday, destroyed the courthouse square seen in "Back to the Future" and the "Psyco's house". The cause of the blaze had not yet been determined. Damage estimates were not available, but costs are expected to rise into the millions. A thick column of smoke rose thousands of feet into the air and could be seen for miles. Thousands of videos from Universal's movie and TV shows were destroyed.
   But Universal officials said that they were thankful no visitors were seriously injured and that the damaged footage can be replaced. The videos included every film that Universal has produced and footage from television series including "Miami Vice" and "I Love Lucy." "We have duplicates of everything," said NBC Universal President and Chief Operating Officer Ron Meyer. "Nothing is lost forever."
   Two mock New York and New England streets used both for movies such as "Bruce Almighty," "Spider-Man 2" and "Transformers" and as tourist displays were a total loss, Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Darryl Jacobs said.Along with the courthouse square, the famous clock tower that enabled Michael J. Fox's character in "Back to the Future" to travel through time was damaged, fire officials said.

Posted by: Fabiano on Mon 6/2/2008 at 17:44

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