Written by new-contact on May 6, 2011. Posted in On Location

Steven Spielberg picks Virginia locations for new Abraham Lincoln film

Steven Spielberg’s long-gestating feature Lincoln will film scenes in Petersburg and Richmond, Virginia, later in 2011. Originally slated to star Liam Neeson, the lead role has instead gone to Daniel Day-Lewis.

In a statement Spielberg said: “Virginia's rich historic legacy, coupled with the remarkable period architecture found in Richmond and Petersburg, make Central Virginia the ideal location for this production.”

Virginia's rich historic legacy, coupled with the remarkable period architecture found in Richmond and Petersburg, make Central Virginia the ideal location for this production.

Steven Spielberg

Virginia offers a refundable tax credit of 15% on qualified local spend. In addition, projects spending between USD250,000 and USD1 million on local labour can be eligible for 10% back. This figure increases to 20% for spends of over USD1 million.

Lincoln’s incentive package will include USD2.5 million from the Virginia Motion Picture Tax Credit programme and USD1 million from the Governor’s Motion Picture Opportunity Fund.

The state attracted Clint Eastwood’s J Edgar Hoover biopic Hoover a few months ago and in recent years has also hosted shoots for films such as Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Kevin Macdonald’s State of Play remake. Spielberg himself has visited before for War of the Worlds and Minority Report.