Lucasfilm’s upcoming The Mandalorian & Grogu directed by Jon Favreau will bring the largest total qualified expenditures in the history of the California Film and Television Tax Credit Program, the California Film Commission said on Monday.
The film commences production later this year and marks the first feature from the Star Wars universe since 2019 as Disney CEO Bob Iger attempts to mine the core IP and revive a pipeline rocked by several relative misfires at the box office in 2023.
The Mandalorian & Grogu will shoot entirely in California and is set to inject an estimated $166m into the state’s economy through below-the-line wages and qualified spend, which only represents a portion of the overall budget including above-the-line payments to cast and filmmakers. These do not qualify for incentives under California’s tax credit programme.
The California Film Commission announced four other big-budget feature projects and 10 independent films in 3.0 Program Year 4 of the Film and Television Tax Credit Program, which are projected to bring close to a combined $408m into the state’s economy.
The Commission has earmarked a little over $61m in tax credits for the 15 conditionally approved projects. The projects will employ an estimated 2,252 crew, 598 cast, and 16,800 background performers over a combined 579 filming days.
The other big-budget features include Untitled Disney Live Action, Untitled 20th Film, and Amazon MGM Studios projects The Accountant 2 and Mercy. Among the independent films with budgets exceeding $10m are New Regency’s Untitled NRP Project.
Fifty-nine projects applied during the January 22-24 application period in Fiscal Year 4 of the California Film and Television Tax Credit Program 3.0.
The final application period for this fiscal year will focus on television projects, with roughly $200m earmarked. Submissions will be accepted from February 26-28 for recurring and relocating television series, and from March 4-6 for new television series.
As for feature films, about $80m is available for both independent and non-independent projects with the next application window scheduled for August 2024.
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