By Adam Coleman
Warner Bros has confirmed that the big budget Hollywood production Green Lantern will not be filmed at Fox Studios Australia due to the soaring value of the Australian dollar.
The move – first reported exclusively by INSIDEFILM in August – is a major blow for the local industry with the film expected to create about 500 jobs.
The Australian dollar hit a 14-month high on Friday with several other Hollywood films also scrapping or postponing planned Australian productions. Last week, Columbia Pictures’ xXx: The Return of Xander Cage – which had also set up an office at Fox Studios – is understood to have postponed production plans.
xXx is understood to have been delayed for between 6 to 12 weeks primarily due to script problems as well as the strong currency, according to sources. The movie would be the third instalment in the action thriller series and the second to star Vin Diesel.
In a statement released through Screen NSW last Friday, Warner Bros said the decision to move the Green Lantern shoot “is a reflection of the current global economic situation, including fluctuations in currency valuation and overall costs”.
The last major feature film shot at Fox Studios Australia was Hugh Jackman’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine in early 2008.
In April this year, Fox Studios Australia boss Nancy Romano said Green Lantern would be a major boost for the Moore Park-based studio facility.
"We have empty sound stages at the moment so this is crucial; we have 60 tenants on the lot which leverage off the [productions],” she told INSIDEFILM at the time.
The departure of both productions would also have serious implications for local industry employment. Nathan Rees had predicted that Green Lantern alone would have created 500 jobs.