LANSING – The Michigan Film Office could spend up to 70 percent of its 2014 fiscal year budget on a film incentive for the latest Superman-Batman combination film starring Ben Affleck, but it also expects to have some $10 million from the current fiscal year budget to put toward the mega project, Director Margaret O’Brien said on Thursday.
Warner Brothers Pictures was officially awarded a $35 million incentive on Thursday in exchange for an anticipated $131 million of in-state expenditures to film the latest super hero movie that brings both Superman and Batman together. That incentive award is second only to $40 million that was awarded to “Oz the Great and Powerful,” but the super hero film expects to spend some 30 percent more (“Oz” estimated about $105 million of in-state expenditures).
But, O’Brien noted, “Oz” was awarded its incentive under the old film incentive program that does not use a specific formula for determining a reasonable amount to dedicate to any one project, and per the new format of the program, no project could be awarded more than $35 million.
The Film Office’s dashboard shows it has about $21 million left to use between now and the end of the fiscal year on September 30, but that does not account for about $7 million in pending projects, nor other funds dedicated to post-production work. Ultimately, she said, she estimates the office could see about $10 million rollover into the 2014 fiscal year budget, which could also be dedicated to the super hero film, freeing up some of the upcoming year funds for other projects.
The project expects to begin filming in Detroit and throughout the state in the first quarter of 2014, the Film Office said. Ms. O’Brien – who recalls first speaking with producers in the spring on what they had described only as a “major production” – said she estimates the project will be filming throughout the state for roughly a year.
“Their agents are scouting the state right now (for other locations),” she said.
It will also use about $1 million of the incentive funding to pay for roughly $3 million of post-production. Since the Film Office is legislatively required to dedicate 5 percent of its budget strictly to post-production annually, that was also an appealing part to the company’s application, she said.
The project is expected to hire 406 Michigan workers with a full-time equivalent of 426 jobs, as well as some 6,000 extras, the Film Office said. The production also anticipates using approximately 500 local Michigan vendors throughout production and spending $5.1 million on local hotels. Some $2.5 million in out-of-town cast and crew per diem payments is also expected to flow into the local economy, which falls outside the incentive program.
“This is the kind of project that I think is very high profile,” O’Brien said told Gongwer News Service. “It has a lot of Michigan hires; I think they’re going to use a lot of small businesses; use a lot of extras; (and) be here for a long time. Those are all critical factors.”
The incentive-spend amount on the untitled super hero film is also more than the most recent “Transformers 4” film, which finished filming last week. That film was awarded a $20 million incentive for more than $81 million of in-state expenditures. The first and third installments of the Transformers franchise also filmed in Michigan, but those numbers were not immediately available.
The Batman-Superman film will star Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne and Diane Lane.
“Detroit is a great example of a quintessential American city, and I know it will make the perfect backdrop for our movie,” the film’s director, Zack Snyder, said in a statement. “Detroit and the entire state of Michigan have been fantastic collaborators, and we are looking forward to working together on this film.”
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