State awards millions in tax credits for films

Projects include works by James Mangold and Jordan Peele as well as a ‘Scarface’ remake.

California’s efforts to lure more feature film productions back to the Golden State have succeeded in nabbing new movies from James Mangold and Jordan Peele, as well as a movie version of the HBO series “Deadwood” and a follow-up to the 1988 comedy “Coming to America.”

The Mangold movie, which will be distributed by 20th Century Fox, depicts the rivalry between automakers Ford and Ferrari to make the world’s fastest race car. The project has qualified for close to $17 million in state tax credits, the most of any title in the current round of financing.

The movie is expected to spend more than $78 million in California on qualified expenditures, which exclude star salaries and other above-the-line expenses. A total of 67 shooting days are planned in-state, with more than half in regions outside the Los Angeles 30-mile zone, including Kern, Orange, Santa Rosa and San Bernardino counties.

Projects that shoot outside L.A.’s 30-mile radius qualify for additional credits under rules established by the California Film Commission, which oversees the state’s tax credit program.

Paramount’s “Coming 2 America” has qualified for nearly $13 million in state tax credits. The sequel to the 1988 Eddie Murphy comedy is on track to spend $64.6 million in-state on qualified expenditures.

“Deadwood,” the longawaited movie follow-up to the HBO series of the same name, has received $4.2 million in tax credits. The series, which ended about a decade ago, filmed extensively in the Santa Clarita area.

Peele’s untitled movie is expected to shoot extensively outside L.A.’s 30-mile zone, in Santa Cruz. The project, which follows his Oscar-winning “Get Out,” has qualified for $5.2 million in tax credits.

Universal’s “Scarface,” the latest update of the classic gangster story, has been allocated $7.8 million.

Nine projects were selected out of a total of 39 movies that applied during the current round. The largest tax credit that California has allocated to any feature film has been to Paramount’s “Bumblebee,” an upcoming spinoff of its “Transformers” series, at $22.4 million.

Under California’s program, filmmakers can receive a tax credit worth as much as 25% of qualified production expenses. The credit can be applied to offset business tax liabilities owed by the production company.