With “On Stranger Tides”, the fourth installment of the popular Walt Disney Pictures franchise “Pirates of the Caribbean” grossing over a billion dollars at the worldwide box office, it should come as no surprise that Disney has a fifth project in development.
What may spring a surprise is the filming location.
Caribbean Business (via The Film Stage) is reporting that the studio has selected Puerto Rico to mount the majority of the pending production.
“Disney just confirmed that they have picked Puerto Rico over Hawaii,” Puerto Rico Film Commission Executive Director Mariella Pérez said. The site added that filming is expected to begin in November.
Some scenes from “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” were shot in Puerto Rico two years ago, but the bulk of the franchise has been shot in Hawaii. Additional scenes have been filmed over the years in Dominica, the Bahamas, St Vincent and the Grenadines, the Dominican Republic and Tortuga.
Provided the buzz about Puerto Rico proves accurate, the recent package of tax incentives aimed at luring more Hollywood movie crews to film there will have bagged a treasure trove of booty for the United States island territory.
Puerto Rico’s Governor Luis Fortuno said in July that the additional tax breaks would make Puerto Rico among the most attractive locations for film production crews.
The incentives provide film studio tax credits for money spent on non-resident actors, writers, directors and associated talent.
Previous legislation had already created tax credits for employing Puerto Rican residents, increasing the benefits for the United States territory.
Fortuno said that incentives in place since March 2011 had resulted in about 30 productions being filmed in the island, generating about US$80million in investment.
Recent examples include television episodes for Showtime’s “The Big C” and the movie “Runner, Runner” with Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake – none of which are likely to have bagged the potential swag of the swashbuckling “Pirates”.
The billion-dollar blockbuster “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”, released in May of last year, was directed by Rob Marshall and starred Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Ian McShane, Kevin R. McNally, Astrid Berges-Frisbey, Sam Claflin and Geoffrey Rush.
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