Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire has started five weeks of filming on location in Hawaii. Shooting will take place on the island of Oahu and is scheduled to wrap a few days before Christmas.
Two new Bollywood movies will film on location in London in 2013. Housefull 3, starring Akshay Kumar, and Kick, starring Salman Khan, have a combined budget of GBP35 million and will stay in the capital for post-production.
Pinewood Shepperton Studios near London has announced increased revenue for 2012 and “encouraging” bookings for 2013. The company has also upgraded its digital television facilities, while also starting work on new studio space.
Filmmaker Peter Jackson has urged the New Zealand Government to be flexible with location filming incentives in the coming years. He stressed that the hobbit trilogy came very close to being filmed in the UK partly because of a high-profile actors’ union dispute in 2010.
Creative Scotland has invested in the initial stage of planning for a potential studio facility in Scotland. The organisation has put forward GBP75,000 for a feasibility study and an initial GBP1 million has also been set aside towards the cost of the development.
Filming industry professionals are lobbying for the return of Arizona’s filming incentives. Its programme expired in 2010 and it hasn’t yet had the support to return. Many in the state see the incentive as a subsidy that panders needlessly to wealthy producers.
Elstree Studios in north-west London has secured a GBP2 million loan to help fund an expansion plan. In recent years the facility has hosted Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and Oscar-winning feature The King’s Speech.
A new feature set in Alaska will film on location in Alberta, Canada. Race to Save Nome is based on the true story of efforts to reach a remote Alaskan town when it fell victim to a diphtheria outbreak in 1925.