Director David Fincher’s adaptation of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea is still struggling to pull together a cast, but once it does they already have a destination for shooting the film. Deadline is reporting that the Australian government has offered Disney a one-off incentive payment of $22.5 million to produce the film Down Under.
Australia has been fairly aggressive in their attempts to lure film companies to their shores to shoot films, offering in the past various tax incentives. They feel that what is spent in bringing foreign productions to the country would be outweighed by the boosts to the local economy. But this payment is by far the largest carrot that they have dangled at Hollywood yet.
Disney is still waiting to see what kind of cast Fincher assembles before giving the final go ahead on the project, but if it does it will probably shoot at Fox Studios in Sydney and Village Roadshow Studios in Queensland.
With this kind of fire lit under him, I would not be surprised if we hear some solid casting news on the film within the next couple of weeks.
