Major Hollywood productions spending unseen amounts in CR

Despite the Covid situation the Czech Republic is continuing to attract major Hollywood projects. Months after shoot of The Gray Man took over Prague, Extraction 2 is currently being filmed in the country while actress Anya Taylor-Joy is set make the horror Nosferatu here, Czech Television reported.

International film and TV crews are currently making enormous use of the Czech Republic’s film production infrastructure. Indeed Hollywood’s current outlay in the country is unprecedented, Czech Television said, adding that the Czech Film Fund was lobbying for an increase in tax incentives for foreign productions.

The first Extraction starring Chris Hemsworth has been one of Netflix’s most watched films to date and its sequel and The Gray Man, starring Ryan Gosling, will be two of the streaming service’s big movies in 2022.

Extraction 2 is using locations in Prague, Southern Bohemia, Central Bohemia and the Ústí nad Labem region to stand in for Vienna, Austria, Georgia and Armenia. Hemsworth has shared photographs of himself eating the Czech fast food trdelníik.

The blockbuster was originally due to be shot in Australia but producers were forced to look elsewhere in view of the country’s Covid restrictions.

Pavlína Žipková, head of the Czech Film Commission section at the Czech Film Fund, told Czech Television that the switch was rather last minute and necessitated changes to the screenplay.

Extraction is due to wrap in the Czech Republic in March after a 66-day shoot and will bring up to CZK 2 billion into the country, Czech Television said.

The Gray Man, which was made in well-known locations in central Prague last summer, had a shorter shoot and brought over CZK 0.5 billion into the country, according to Czech Television.

Among the most recent productions to wrap here was the horror movie The Cello starring Jeremy Irons.

There are so many international series being made in the Czech Republic that there is a shortage of professionals in a number of fields.

There have been reports that Czech productions are finding it particularly hard to find people as they cannot compete in pay terms with the likes of Netflix, Czech Television said.

Barrandov Studios, Prague Studios and the relatively new Jordan Studios in Prague’s Letnany district are expanding to keep up with the demand, the station reported.

The Czech film industry was the first in Europe to establish special rules for dealing with the Covid situation. These guidelines were tightened further when a new wave arrived in September of this year, Pavlína Žipková told Czech Television.

Crews and actors are being tested three or four times a week. Given that coronavirus vaccinations are required to work on international productions, infection rates have fallen dramatically, Ms. Žipková said.