On what was the estate of Heatherden Hall, the studios were created in 1934 by Charles Boot who drew his inspiration from the latest Hollywood movie studios. One of Boot's wealthy investors was J. Arthur Rank who found the experience rewarding and immediately set about entering the world of commercial film-making – a move which would ultimately lead to the development of the Rank Organisation.

The Second World War saw the studios requisitioned by the Government for storage - its great sound stages becoming home to mountains of sugar, flour and other much-needed wartime supplies.

The 1950s was a good time for the studio with many of the most successful films in Britain made at Pinewood. More interestingly, four out of those five were medical film comedies, Doctor in the House, Doctor At Large, Carry On Nurse, and Doctor In Love. The films were made separately by a husband and wife couple, Betty Box and Peter Rogers. Between 1958 and 1992 Peter Rogers made 30 hugely successful Carry On films at Pinewood, making household names of it's stars.

The non-comedy Pinewood film to have topped the box office charts in Britain in the 1950s was the war actioner based on the exploits of Douglas Bader, Reach for the Sky, starring Kenneth More. With the 1960s came the most iconic figure to have emerged from any production made at Pinewood before and since - James Bond. All of Sean Connery’s outings as Bond and almost each and every other title in turn to date have had a base at Pinewood Studios.

In the 1970s the industry was in the doldrums and studios across Britain were getting nervous. Who could save it? Believe it or not it was to be Superman. Just as the comic book hero had saved the world on countless occasions since the character’s creation in 1938, it was now planned that Superman could do more of the same on the big screen, while hopefully, at the same time, lift the ailing fortunes of Pinewood Studios. Superman The Movie began filming at Pinewood on 28 March 1977.

In 2001, Pinewood Studios merged with Shepperton Studios, the other leading British film production location. In 2005, Pinewood Shepperton acquired Teddington Studios. The three studios are now spread across 200 acres, have some 41 stages - including six digital television studios - and more than 80 acres of backlot for film sets, as well as one of Europe’s largest outdoor water tanks and a new dedicated underwater stage. Pinewood continues to have its formal gardens, adjoining fields, woodlands and orchard, and magnificent mansion house.