Skip to main content

Superheroes Land in Midwest - Again; 'Superman vs Batman' to Film in Detroit


Fan art for 'Superman vs Batman,' based on
a Warner Bros./DC Entertainment design
By now you’ve heard the news: the much-anticipated sequel to Man of Steel, tentatively titled Superman vs Batman, will shoot on location in Detroit, Mich., and other areas of Michigan in 2014.

That’s big news for fans of filmmaking in the Midwest and further proof that shooting in the Midwest is becoming even more viable and preferred.

For those taking count, that’s four big superhero blockbusters filmed (or about to be filmed) in the Midwest in the last few years. Pittsburgh played Gotham City in The Dark Knight Rises, Cleveland substituted for New York City in the mega-hit Marvel’s The Avengers, and work recently wrapped on Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier in Cleveland, as well. This time, the city portrays Washington, D.C.

Speculation is that Detroit will likely substitute for Gotham City. And with a first quarter 2014 shoot, that could mean a Gotham City during wintertime.

DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Pictures will benefit from state tax incentives, and the film will bring with it production jobs for cast and crew and notoriety for the city.

“This project will further strengthen the reputation of Michigan and metro Detroit as a premier film destination,” said Margaret O’Riley, director of the Michigan Film Office, in a statement to the press. “We look forward to the spotlight shining on our incredibly talented workforce and the businesses that support our film industry here in Michigan.”

Superman vs Batman was awarded an incentive of $35 million on $131 million of projected in-state expenditures. The production is expected to hire 406 Michigan workers, with a full time equivalent of 426 jobs, plus an additional 6,000 man/days of extra work. The production anticipates using approximately 500 local Michigan vendors during the course of production and spending $5.1 million on local hotels, as well as an additional $3.5 million in out-of-town cast and crew per diem payments that will be spent in the local economy but which fall outside of the incentive program.

Production on the new film is expected to begin in metro Detroit and throughout Michigan sometime in the first quarter of 2014. Snyder is co-writing the story with David S. Goyer, who is writing the screenplay. Charles Roven and Deborah Snyder are producing the film, which will star Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, 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," stated filmmaker Zack Snyder. "Detroit and the entire state of Michigan have been fantastic collaborators, and we are looking forward to working together on this film."
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

5 horrific questions with filmmaker Henrique Couto

Filmmaker Henrique Cuoto >>> When Henrique Couto was 12 years old, he found himself volunteering at his local cable access channel in Dayton, Ohio. He didn't know it then, but that experience would become the catalyst that sparked his lifelong obsession with filmmaking. Early exposure to the mechanics of storytelling and production laid the groundwork for a career that now spans dozens of films, podcasts, and digital series. “From that moment on, I couldn't imagine doing anything else at all with my life,” Couto says. An eclectic taste Though Couto is often associated with the horror genre, his creative output today is far more eclectic. “It’s about fifty-fifty between horror and other genres,” he explains. “The last 5 or 6 years, horror has been a soft market and hard to make solid money in, so I've expanded a lot.” Horror remains close to his heart, he admits, not just for its narrative possibilities, but for the community it fosters. Forming those relationships...
Post a Comment
Read more

A chat with Erik Kripke, creator of 'Supernatural' and 'The Boys'

Erik Kripke on the set of 'The Boys' Those that know Eric Kripke from when he was a boy growing up in the Toledo, Ohio, suburb of Sylvania often tell him they didn’t know that he was “secretly disturbed.” And even the filmmaker admits that his happy, idyllic life seems out of place for the guy that created the horror sensation, Supernatural . “I guess the only thing weird may have been how normal everything was,” Kripke says. Kripke’s Supernatural, which ran for 15 seasons on The CW, tells the tale of two monster-hunting brothers – Sam and Dean Winchester, played by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles respectively. Think of it as a sort of Route 66 with chainsaws, muscle cars and a boatload of demons. It's a bit of a 180 for a guy who started his career as a comedy writer. Dangerously obsessed Kripke says that since he was 8 or 9 years old, his focus was on becoming a filmmaker. “I never really wanted to do anything else. You could say I was ‘dange...
Post a Comment
Read more

Midwest Movie Belt: Zombie Apocalypse Ground Zero

'The Walking Dead's shambling walkers I love The Walking Dead . Mostly because it is a well-written, well-produced, well-acted, intense horror drama. But maybe even more so because it’s filled to the gills with zombies . And in the middle of the scare season, nothing spooks me more than shambling cadavers. Zombies - or walkers, if you’re a fan of the AMC show or Image comic - are more frightening than any fictional monster you can imagine. Vampires, werewolves, mutants, reanimated slashers, idiot teens in Halloween masks - none hold a waxy candelabra to a horde of hungry corpses. It’s the multiplying mass. It’s claustrophobic. Plus the inevitability that you’re going to bump into a dearly departed loved-one. And that your loved one will likely tug out your intestines through your belly button. The Walking Dead ’s fourth season debuts Sunday. The successful show, developed by Frank Darabont, based on Robert Kirkman’s popular comic book , owes much of its setting - the...
Post a Comment
Read more