Australia offers $22.5mln for Fincher’s “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea”

PanARMENIAN.Net - In the largest inducement it’s ever offered to a Hollywood production, the Australian government has confirmed it will give Disney a one-off payment of $22.5M to shoot 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea: Captain Nemo in Oz, Deadline said.

Sources tell Deadline the greenlight on the David Fincher film is still contingent on casting, but it is expected that Fox Studios in Sydney and Village Roadshow Studios in Queensland will share hosting of the production.

Disney executives had asked the federal, New South Wales and Queensland governments for subsidies which would effectively lift the 16.5% location rebate to 30%, similar to the $12.8M payment by the federal government which persuaded Fox to shoot The Wolverine in Sydney.

20,000 Leagues, which is budgeted at about $150M, could create up to 2,000 jobs, the government said. Last month, the government provided $20M in new funding to attract international productions and said it was committed to raising the location rebate if the Oz dollar remains high, but it did not set a time.