SUPERHERO CENTRAL
THOR DEAL NAILED, MORE TO COME
THE Gold Coast is about to become known as “Marville” with moves for a series of superhero blockbusters to be shot here.
As revealed by the Bulletin in September, Marvel Studios and Disney yesterday announced its next superhero epic, Thor: Ragnarok, would be filmed at the Village Roadshow Studios, Oxenford, after more than six months of negotiations between political leaders and film bosses.
The god of thunder’s blockbuster film is likely to leave the local economy thunderstruck, with at least $300 million set to be injected along with more than 1000 jobs.
It was locked in along with Sir Ridley Scott’s sequel to his 2012 Alien prequel Prometheus, which will be filmed in Australia at Sydney’s Fox Studios, and a $47 million injection from the Federal Government.
Both films were secured on the back of the success of the Gold Coast this year hosting the Johnny Depp headliner Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.
Thor: Ragnarok will feature Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins and Mark Ruffalo and cameras are expected to roll in January to meet a July 2017 release date.
Thor is expected to be the first of many Marvel movies filmed here.
Fadden MP Stuart Robert said the 30 per cent tax rebate helped get the decision across the line.
“I spoke to Malcolm (Turnbull) about this on his first day as Prime Minister and told him we needed to get the film industry here on the Gold Coast,” he said.
“The reason I wanted Thor is that it is a continuity of movies so it is not just one production but a whole franchise which comes with the Marvel universe.
“I have all of these movies and my kids love them so the goal would be to get not just these ones but to work to make the Gold Coast the nation’s premier hub for film and television productions.”
The deal to secure the movie has been carefully put together since talks started in April, with key roles played by local MPs Steven Ciobo, Mr Robert, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Prime Minister Turnbull.
Mr Ciobo said the announcement was the culmination of months of work and that it would create thousands of jobs and promote the city as a destination.
“This is a great result for Australia and for the Gold Coast and if one of those films ends up here it will be tremendous for the city and will have a profound impact on the economy,” he said. The Bulletin understands Ms Palaszczuk spoke to Peta Credlin, then-prime minister Tony Abbott’s chief of staff in June while on a trip to Singapore but was rebuffed.
Ms Palaszczuk, who met with Marvel and Disney bosses this year, said “the industry’s eyes are on Queensland”.
“I am very confident that through this support and the support of the Queensland Government, we will see more films and TV shows made here in Queensland,” she said.
Mayor Tom Tate welcomed the news and said that if the Gold Coast had secured the superhero sequel, it would be a “historic day”.