Written by new-contact on Jul 26, 2013. Posted in On Location

Fantastic Four cancels Vancouver shoot for Louisiana filming incentives

An upcoming reboot of superhero franchise The Fantastic Four has cancelled plans to film on location in Vancouver. Twentieth Century Fox has instead opted to shoot in Louisiana, following the recent renewal of the southern state’s generous 30% filming tax credit.

“This government has succeeded in doing what no other super-villain has, and that's to scare away The Fantastic Four,” Canadian Press reports New Democrat politician David Heyman as saying in the legislature. He followed up with a reference to a catchphrase used by Fantastic Four character The Thing: “Will the government's message continue to be [that] it's clobbering time for the BC film industry?”

The provincial government in British Columbia has been accused of failing to support the regional production industry as the province falls behind eastern Canadian rivals Ontario and Quebec. British Columbia’s basic filming incentive is a 33% tax credit applicable only to local labour costs.

Fox released its first big-budget Fantastic Four film in 2005 but the 2007 sequel underwhelmed audiences and stalled the franchise.