Cliffhanger 2, the sequel to the Sylvester Stallone 1993 action thriller, in which Stallone is set to star, has become the first feature film to be awarded the maximum funding of €5m possible under Austria’s FISA+ production incentive.
The German-UK production between Austria and Germany-based Supernix and UK sales and production outfit Rocket Science is set to begin shooting this autumn at locations in Austria, Bavaria and at the Penzing Studios west of Munich. Jean-Francois Richet is directing.
A total of €109.9m has been paid out to 113 projects so far via FISA+ which launched in January 2023.
Guy Ritchie’s The Fountain Of Youth, starring Natalie Portman and John Krasinski, has received the second largest amount of €2.1m.
Meanwhile, the Hulu series Nine Perfect Strangers led the field of series supported by FISA+ by being awarded the maximum amount for a series of €7.5m.
The production starring Nicole Kidman had been shooting in Austria and Germany for the first six months of this year, with the funding going to the service producer Supernix, a joint venture set up between Philipp Kreuzer’s Maze Pictures and Joe Neurauter’s Occupant Entertainment.
Further series supported by FISA+ to date have included HBO’s The Regime (€2.3m), starring Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant and Austrian actor Karl Markovics, David Schalko’s Kafka (€3m), and the fourth season of Vienna Blood (€2.5m).
A total of 2,900 shooting days by the 113 projects had created an “Austria effect” of around €347m and generated overall revenues in the territory’s economy of around €1bn, according to Austria’s Ministry of Labour and Economy.
“Every Euro of funding from FISA+ triggers around three Euros in direct production expenditure in Austria,” said Martin Kocher, the minister of labour and economy. “€1.20 to €1.50 in additional revenues flows back to the public sector.
“The creation of relevant infrastructure has also received a boost from FISA+, for example, the two new film studios [HP7 in Vienna],” Kocher added. “This is how we are securing Austria’s competitive position as a film hub for the future and arousing the interest of international productions. In addition, high-quality jobs are being created and secured and digital expertise established on a sustainable basis in a key growth area of the cultural and creative industries.”
Launched in January 2023 and administered by the Austria Wirtschaftsservice Gesellschaft on behalf of the Ministry of Labour and Economy, the FISA+ incentive programme can award grants of up to 30% on the Austria spend of a production.
In addition, productions may qualify for a 5% green filming bonus and a one-off payment of €25,000 if a certain number of women are employed as heads of department.
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