Universal unveils rebuilt studios

Universal Studios in Los Angeles has unveiled its $200m (£137m) rebuilt outdoor sets - with imitation New York streets - destroyed by fire in 2008.

The four acre site, which features 13 city blocks, will be used in films and in the behind-the-scenes studio tour.

Film director Steven Spielberg, who helped with the rebuild, said it was "a fertile basis for everyone's use, everyone's imagination".

The June 2008 fire destroyed film sets and damaged a library of film reels.

Fire investigators said it was started accidentally by workers using a blowtorch.

Spielberg, who was one of the first to arrive after the fire started, said it was "truly an inferno".

"The flames were hundreds of feet into the air and everything was coming down quickly," he said.

The new sets includes versions of New York's Central Park, Wall Street and Broadway as well as London and Paris streets.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who shot five films on the Universal backlot, said he had "all kinds of really great, great memories of this studio".

Films including Back to the Future, To Kill a Mockingbird and The Blues Brothers were all shot on Universal's outdoor sets.