Filmmaker Michael Bay faced plentiful challenges filming Transformers: Age of Extinction on location in Hong Kong. The production generated headlines when a handful of locals tried to extort the crew and the director himself was attacked on set.
Marvel’s action sequel Thor: The Dark World filmed on location in and around London and was based at Pinewood Shepperton Studios. Stage work involved building the grandiose sets of Thor’s home Asgard, while the production focused on the logistics of filming central London.
Propeller Film shot on location in New York with Kevin Spacey for a series of commercials for Poland-based Bank Zachodni. Faced with a tight filming schedule, New York service company MediaCombo Productions had a challenge on its hands securing locations and studio space.
Ridley Scott is filming his historical Moses epic Exodus on location in the Almeria region of Andalucia in southern Spain, which is doubling for ancient Egypt. Shooting with Christian Bale, the filmmaker’s production team spent three months building partial sets for the movie.
New Zealand may lose location filming for James Cameron’s Avatar sequels if its filming incentive programme is not improved. Cameron is planning three back-to-back sequels, but with a production budget reportedly approaching a billion dollars, he is looking for a generous tax incentive.
Production on Hugh Jackman’s X-Men spin-off The Wolverine helped boost Australia’s international filming figures for 2012/13 after two years with no big-budget foreign shoots. However, the high Australian dollar prompted a slump in post-production work for the year.
New Everest feature Beyond the Edge filmed in the Southern Alps of New Zealand, which doubled for the Himalayan peak. The movie takes a docudrama approach to the first officially successful ascent of Everest in 1953 by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.
The BBC has reiterated plans to increase its Northern Ireland location filming in the coming years. In 2012 the corporation filmed just 1.3% of its overall content in the region - including crime drama Line of Duty - but it wants to more than double this figure by 2016.