Written by new-contact on Feb 10, 2014. Posted in On Location

New TV drama Hieroglyph to recreate ancient Egypt filming in New Mexico

New TV drama series Hieroglyph will recreate ancient Egypt filming on location in New Mexico. The show will be based at Albuquerque Film Studios and could help further boost the state's profile after the success of Breaking Bad.

Hieroglyph will offer a blend of fantasy and historical drama telling the story of a thief who is released from prison to serve the Pharaoh.

“We wanted to do a show about deceit, sex, intrigue in the court and fantastical goings-on – no better place to set that than ancient Egypt,” said Fox Entertainment Chairman Kevin Reilly when the series was first greenlit: “[Writer] Travis Beacham has an inventive mind and he has wrapped this all together in this intoxicating new drama.”

Added New Mexico Film Office Director Nick Maniatis: "We are extremely pleased to welcome 20th Century Fox Television and Hieroglyph to New Mexico, and we look forward to supporting the productions efforts with our excellent crew, facilities and vendors."

New Mexico has been given a big profile boost by the international success of the acclaimed crime drama Breaking Bad. The state’s generous filming incentive programme was a crucial factor in convincing the show’s producers to film on location in Albuquerque in the first place, rather than California. By the time the series ended it had inspired a 5% increase to the state's TV incentive. Spinoff series Better Call Saul is also likely to shoot locally in the coming months.

The state continues to appeal to feature productions as well. Peter Berg scored a box-office hit with his true-life war movie Lone Survivor (above) that doubled New Mexico for the mountains of Afghanistan and Johnny Depp’s upcoming sci-fi film Transcendence also shot locally.

Ridley Scott is tackling an ancient Egyptian story of his own with his new feature Exodus, which tells the story of Moses. However, the British filmmaker has opted to film in the deserts of Almeria in Spain, with studio work at Pinewood in the UK.