Written by new-contact on Oct 2, 2014. Posted in On Location

Pirates of the Caribbean 5 confirmed for Australia location filming

Disney has chosen to film on location in Queensland, Australia, for its fantasy sequel Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. The movie will get a filming incentive payment of AUD 21 million and production will also take place at Village Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast.

The incentive deal was originally arranged for Disney's planned big-budget remake of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, but this production has reportedly been sidelined by Disney. The studio instead asked to have the deal transferred to the new Pirates movie. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is expected to deliver around AUD 100 million to Queensland’s economy.

“The fifth film in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise will be the largest international feature film ever to shoot in Australia and will focus the world’s attention on Australia as a leading film destination,” said Senator George Brandis, Federal Minister for the Arts.

“Our investment in attracting the film to Australia will result in substantial benefits for the screen industry and economy.”

The movie will see Johnny Depp returning to the role of Captain Jack Sparrow for the fifth time in one of the biggest movie franchises of the past decade. Pre-production will start this month and principal photography will begin in around February next year.

Added Ian Walker, Queensland Minister for the Arts: “The last major productions to film here were San Andreas, which employed more than 3,000 Queensland crew, cast, contractors and extras and Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken, which employed about 3,180 locals. This fifth Pirates of the Caribbean production is a bigger film in terms of expenditure than either of those big-budget films, so the economic benefits to the state will be powerful.”

The fifth film in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise will be the largest international feature film ever to shoot in Australia.

Senator George Brandis, Federal Minister for the Arts

Securing the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise continues Australia’s production turnaround. For several years the country had trouble attracting big-budget international shoots as the strength of the Australian dollar soared and other production hubs around the world expanded their filming incentive deals.

The Australian government launched a new Incentive programme last year that offers one-off payments alongside a separate Location Offset programme. Officially a short-term stopgap measure, the Incentive has nonetheless proven a success at drawing the major Hollywood studios.