Batman and Superman Movie Headed to Detroit, Lured By $35 Million In Incentives

[Straight Shooter]

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Gotham and Metropolis be damned: Batman and Superman are headed to the Motor City.

The hotly anticipated Warner Bros. film uniting the two DC Comics heroes will be shot in Detroit and throughout Michigan, the Michigan Film Office said Thursday.

The film will receive $35 million in incentives and is expected to spend $131 million in the state. More than 400 Michigan residents will be hired for the production and 500 local vendors will be used during shooting.

It's a big plum for Michigan's film office, which recently played host to "Transformers 4" and the AMC series "Low Winter Sun." It's a loss, however, for Vancouver, Canada, which provided the locations for "Man of Steel."

The defection to Detroit is the second time the Canadian city has lost out on a major comic book production. In July, TheWrap broke the news that Fox's "Fantastic Four" reboot had decamped from Vancouver to Louisiana because of the state's more generous incentive structure. Lawmakers in British Columbia have so far resisted calls to increase film subsidies, but the loss of these projects has already reignited debate about the efficacy of tax incentives for film productions.

Zack Snyder will direct the film, which will begin production in the first quarter of 2014. "Man of Steel"s' Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne and Diane Lane will reprise their roles with Ben Affleck donning Batman's cape and cowl, as TheWrap previously reported.

"Detroit is a great example of a quintessential American city, and I know it will make the perfect backdrop for our movie," 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."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/sns-rt-us-batmansuperman-detroit-20130829,0,917624.story

Great news for Detroit. I want more movies to be made here in the U.S.

 

[Elwood70]

This is great. How awesome would it be if Detroit could re-invent itself as a moviemaking mecca?

 

[D-rock]

Considering the low amount of jobs that will be produced, the relative low amount of money that will be spent, the tax incentives that will draw in less money, and the transitory and short term length of movie making this makes it much more of a public relations gimmick than any economic benefit. Having some tax benefits to draw a couple of movies in isn't a viable business plan.

It's a feel good story more than anything. Plus, if the movies bombs, which has a good chance considering they are actually having Affleck play Batman, it might even have some of the negative aspects of it rub off on the city.

 

[Mr. Daystar]

Yeah, you guys have fun with that. They filmed part of "The Avengers", and "Spiderman", her in Cleveland...and clusterfucked traffic for WEEKS! It's bad enough having to deal with traffic, but then throw detours on top of it, and you have to run around pulling a 45' trailer. You keep that 35mil, because in the long run, it didn't do much to lower my taxes, and no one sent me a little slice for my grief and aggravation. Just sayin....be careful what you wish for.

 

[Philbert]

Considering the low amount of jobs that will be produced, the relative low amount of money that will be spent, the tax incentives that will draw in less money, and the transitory and short term length of movie making this makes it much more of a public relations gimmick than any economic benefit. Having some tax benefits to draw a couple of movies in isn't a viable business plan.

It's a feel good story more than anything. Plus, if the movies bombs, which has a good chance considering they are actually having Affleck play Batman, it might even have some of the negative aspects of it rub off on the city.

It's a perfect background for "after the collapse" Sci fi movies, Armageddon type stories, like The Crow, or more Zombie shit like Walking Dead or some gangsta flick with Ice T and JayZ with Beyoncé as an almost believeable social worker.

 

[Philbert]

QUOTE=revidffum;7853571]Yeah, you guys have fun with that. They filmed part of "The Avengers", and "Spiderman", her in Cleveland...and clusterfucked traffic for WEEKS! It's bad enough having to deal with traffic, but then throw detours on top of it, and you have to run around pulling a 45' trailer. You keep that 35mil, because in the long run, it didn't do much to lower my taxes, and no one sent me a little slice for my grief and aggravation. Just sayin....be careful what you wish for.[/QUOTE]



They did the "let's make movies!" thing when I was living in New Orleans, and the only real cash went to those in the industry who don't live there; I did get a free dinner on Dennis Hopper out of the deal. And a T-shirt...

 

[TheDiamondStudd]

I'm not expecting greatness. The most recent Batman movie was awful in my opinion.
Marvel do their superhero movies the right way, 9 times outta 10.

 

[amnenadrom]

Detroit seems like an amazing place to shoot big city movies. New York and Chicago might be the basis of comic metropolitan areas but in Detroit they could probably budget blowing up actual buildings. Even if all the money doesn't stay in the area at least some will end up there.