New Film tax credits
Source. I removed tv references and converted from local currency (NZD) to US currency (USD). QE = qualified expenditure (basically they're only reporting spending that qualifies for a tax credit). From what I recall NZ has a pretty unrestricted definition for work done in country.
| Name | Application Type | Applicant Company | Just post-production (Y/N) | QE (NZD) | QE (USD) | Rebate Amount (NZD) | Rebate (USD) | NET (USD) | Approval Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In the Blink of an Eye | Final | Southern Light Films Ltd | Y | $ 1,012,298 | $ 642,303 | $ 202,460 | $ 128,461 | $ 513,842 | Sep-24 |
| Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire | Final | Washtub Productions NZ Limited | Y | $ 30,085,494 | $ 19,089,246 | $ 5,915,389 | $ 3,753,314 | $ 15,335,932 | Sep-24 |
| Avatar Sequels | 10th Interim (Jan-Sep 2024) | 880 Productions NZ Limited Partnership | N | $ 54,524,415 | $ 34,595,741 | $ 10,904,882 | $ 6,919,148 | $ 27,676,594 | Sep-24 |
In the Blink of an Eye is a searchlight film staring scheduled for a hulu release directed by Andrew Stanton (John Carter, Wall-E, Toy Story films, Finding Nemo/Dory, Monsters Inc) and stars Kate McKinnon, Rashida Jones and Daveed Diggs.
All Avatar tax credits in New Zealand
| Avatar Period | Date | Qualifying New Zealand Production Expenditure | QE (USD) | Rebate (NZD) | Rebate (USD) | NET (USD) | NET NZ QE to date (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10th Interim | Sep-24 | $ 54,524,415 | $ 34,595,741 | $ 10,904,882 | $ 6,919,148 | $ 27,676,594 | $ 551,265,868 |
| 9th Interim | Dec-23 | $ 203,611,876 | $ 128,988,123 | $ 40,722,375 | $ 25,797,625 | $ 103,190,499 | $ 523,589,274 |
| 8th Interim | Aug-22 | $ 73,349,728 | $ 46,467,053 | $ 14,669,946 | $ 9,293,411 | $ 37,173,642 | $ 420,398,776 |
| 7th Interim | Mar-22 | $ 94,341,744 | $ 63,841,058 | $ 18,868,349 | $ 12,768,212 | $ 51,072,846 | $ 383,225,134 |
| 6th Interim | Jun-21 | $ 177,429,875 | $ 128,672,145 | $ 35,485,975 | $ 25,734,429 | $ 102,937,716 | $ 332,152,287 |
| 5th Interim | Nov-20 | $ 97,065,659 | $ 64,373,945 | $ 19,413,132 | $ 12,874,789 | $ 51,499,156 | $ 229,214,571 |
| 4th Interim | Jan-20 | $ 109,833,157 | $ 73,983,615 | $ 21,966,631 | $ 14,796,723 | $ 59,186,892 | $ 177,715,415 |
| 3rd Interim | Aug-19 | $ 75,760,332 | $ 49,653,322 | $ 15,152,066 | $ 9,930,664 | $ 39,722,658 | $ 118,528,523 |
| 2nd Interim | Feb-19 | $ 50,134,772 | $ 34,577,952 | $ 10,026,954 | $ 6,915,590 | $ 27,662,362 | $ 78,805,866 |
| 1st Interim | Nov-18 | $ 96,148,864 | $ 63,929,380 | $ 19,229,773 | $ 12,785,876 | $ 51,143,504 | $ 51,143,504 |
Note that Avatar spent a decent amount of money shooting in California pre-pandemic but everything else has seemingly been in NZ.
and here are the two GvK films split out separately (no earlier monsterverse film was included in the historical record). While this references New Zealand spending, Canada and Australia appear to be bigger sites of spending which limits ability to extrapolate.
| Name | Applicant Company | Post Production only | QE (NZD) | QE (USD) | Rebate Amount (NZD) | Rebate (USD) | NET (USD) | Approval Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire | Washtub Productions NZ Limited | Y | $ 30,085,494 | $ 19,089,246 | $ 5,915,389 | $ 3,753,314 | $ 15,335,932 | Sep-24 |
| Godzilla vs Kong | Washtub Productions NZ Limited | Y | $ 18,622,607 | $ 11,816,044 | $ 3,724,521 | $ 2,363,209 | $ 9,452,836 | Mar-21 |
by SilverRoyce
1 Comment
The amount of money spent on Avatar movies in NZ is astronomical and yet not as high as people think (remember that ridiculous $1 billion budget rumor for Avatar 2?). The key visuals for these movies were locked as far back as 2012 and they began pre-production in 2016 and have been in continuous production since 2017. I can’t think of any other movies having this long of a continuous production.