AVATAR, the famous James Cameron film that has been claimed as the highest grossing film of all time has struck a deal with New Zealand.
New Zealand, who has been home to THE LORD OF THE RINGS and THE HOBBIT can now add AVATAR to its list of blockbuster films made in the beautiful country. The overall deal was $412 million between the New Zealand government, 20th Century Fox and James Cameron’s company Lightstorm Entertainment. The deal means the next three Avatar movies will be films in New Zealand.
The deal was announced on December 16 and includes a government rebate of 25% (10% higher than usual) of all money spent in the country on production. This includes live action filming and visual effects.
Not only do they get to spend $412 million in New Zealand, the AVATAR sequels must contain a featurette on New Zealand on the DVDs and Blu-rays, must have at least one red carpet premiere in the country and James Cameron and producer Jon Landau must serve as a founding member of a new screen advisory board. New Zealand also wants to be involved in the marketing and promotion for the films.
Sounds like New Zealand has their thinking caps on and know when to snag a good deal. Not only does this give them three blockbuster films for the next few years, but a great way to bring in extra business.
AVATAR 2 is due to hit cinemas in December 2016 with each sequel releasing a year after the previous. Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana and Stephen Lang are all reprising their roles.
