The California Film Commission announced Monday that nine upcoming films have received tax credits to shoot in the Golden State as part of California’s expanded Film & TV Tax Credit Program.
Among the films receiving credits are the upcoming remake of “Scarface” — which will see the story of Tony Montana moved from Miami to L.A. — the film adaptation of the acclaimed HBO series “Deadwood,” and an untitled Universal film directed by “Get Out” filmmaker Jordan Peele as part of his exclusive deal with the studio.
In 2014, California Gov. Jerry Brown approved revisions to the Film Commission’s tax credit program in response to an exodus of higher budget films to other states like Georgia. The new system allows projects previously barred from credit by the old program to be eligible, including TV pilots, hour-long TV series, and most notably, feature films with budgets of more than $75 million.
This has led major Hollywood studios to return to California for some of their projects, including Marvel Studios, which has filmed most of their recent work at Pinewood Studios in Atlanta but is filming next year’s “Captain Marvel” in California. Disney also filmed Ava DuVernay’s “A Wrinkle In Time,” which had a budget of $103 million, in California as well.
Another upcoming film that has just received credit but would have been ineligible under the old system is Fox’s action-drama “Ford vs. Ferrari.” Reporting a production budget of $78 million, the film will tell the true story of the intense rivalry between Ford and Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans after Enzo Ferrari refused to let Henry Ford II buy his company, resulting in Ford upsetting the Italian company at the race by designing the iconic Ford GT.
Other high-budget projects that have received credit include Fox’s upcoming adaptation of Jack London’s “Call of the Wild,” Paramount’s next “Transformers” film “Bumblebee,” and Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.”
The next application period for feature film tax credits will be held June 18-22.