The California Film Commission has handed out its latest round of film tax credit approvals, with the sequel to last year’s Michael Jackson biopic a big winner.
Lionsgate will reportedly nab $30.8 million in state tax incentives for “Michael 2,” the second biggest sum by any of the 35 films set to receive a share of the $226 million total credits offered in this round.
The original “Michael” received $21 million in credits, and the resulting film went on to earn more than $1 billion at the box office. Since then, California’s tax credit scheme has become more generous with the amount expected to cover 35% of qualified costs for the sequel (the original’s take covered only 17.5%).
Disney was a big winner in the newly announced tax credits scheme with an untitled Pixar film collecting a whopping $40.1 million.
Also scoring large numbers in this round are $29.3 million for an untitled Paramount crime thriller film, $18 million for an untitled Disney live-action film, $13 million for an untitled Warners comedy film, $12.2 million for an untitled horror film at 20th Century Studios, and $11.4 million for the Ice Cube-led newest entry in the “Friday” comedy series.
Multiple indie films are also scoring several million each, including Mike Mills’ next film, the “Maniac Cop” remake, and the Florence Pugh-led “cassandra at the wedding”.
Source: Variety
