All of Vancouver’s major studio facilities are booked solid right through summer, a situation few would have anticipated six months ago, when the local production biz was in the middle of what appeared to be a serious slump.

B.C. had been hit hard by a soaring Canadian dollar, tax-credit hikes in Ontario and Quebec, and new competition from American states with tax incentives of their own. However, after B.C. finally boosted its production tax credit to 18% from 11% for service productions and to 30% from 20% for domestic shoots in January, the turnaround was almost immediate.

‘It is certainly good times right now. There seems to be a renewed confidence in B.C. as a shooting location,’ says Peter Leitch, chair of the Motion Picture Production Industry Association of B.C. and president of Lions Gate Studios.

The current turnaround in B.C. is, predictably, due mainly to a jump in Hollywood guest production. Big-budget high-profile productions shooting in the province over the next four months range from the action thriller The Wrong Element starring Harrison Ford to an update of the 1960s TV series I Dream of Jeannie.

Although details are sparse, the third X-Men feature, with a budget in excess of US$100 million, has set up shop at Vancouver Film Studios.

‘It looks like we are going to have a very healthy summer. After that, it’s difficult to know,’ says Leitch.

This level of demand from Hollywood on local crews and soundstages is unusual for B.C. even at the best of times. In addition to higher tax credits and a loonie that appears stable around US$0.80, the summer shooting boom is also the result of a high number of features that happened to be greenlit simultaneously, according to Leitch.

The following is a rundown of the biggest feature productions setting up camp in B.C. this summer.

The Wrong Element

(aka Firewall)

Director: Richard Loncraine

Distributor: Warner Bros.

Cast: Harrison Ford, Virginia Madsen

Shoot dates: Feb. 21 to June 10

Main studio facility: Canadian Motion Picture Park

Ford has been in Vancouver for the past four months shooting The Wrong Element. The US$37-million action thriller finds his character’s family being held for ransom, and he, as a security expert who specializes in making banks theft-proof, is forced to steal millions to keep his loved ones safe.

Rumor has it that Ford enjoyed the province so much that he has bought a waterfront home on Bowen Island.

Catch & Release

Director: Susannah Grant

Distributor: Columbia Pictures

Cast: Jennifer Garner, Sonja Bennett, Juliette Lewis

Shoot dates: May 13 to July 30

Main studio facility: Vancouver Film Studios

In this US$40-million romantic drama, Garner plays a widow struggling to accept the untimely death of her husband as she unravels secrets he kept from her.

Garner is no stranger to Vancouver, having shot superhero flick Elektra there. Meanwhile, her main man Ben Affleck is shooting Truth, Justice and the American Way in Toronto. Catch & Release could provide a breakout performance for local actress Sonja Bennett.

RV

Director: Barry Sonnenfeld

Distributor: Columbia Pictures

Cast: Robin Williams, Jeff Daniels, Cheryl Hines

Shoot dates: May 16 to Aug. 16

Main studio facility: Eagle Creek Studios

B.C. doubles for the Colorado Rockies in this US$30-million-plus comedy adventure about a father, played by Williams, who takes his family on a road trip through the mountains. Some unit shooting will take place in Alberta in July.

Williams spent time in Canada last spring shooting the as-yet-unreleased The Big White in Manitoba.

Pacific Air 121

Director: David R. Ellis

Distributor: New Line Cinema

Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Benjamin McKenzie

Shoot dates: June 13 to Aug. 24

Main studio facility: Eagle Creek Studios

Just when you thought it was safe to fly again, Anaconda meets Airport in this action thriller, which will bring Jackson to Vancouver for a couple of months.

The audacious plot concerns an airline passenger who is a witness in protective custody. Halfway through the flight, a would-be assassin makes his move by letting a crate full of deadly snakes loose on board the aircraft.

Dungeon Siege

Director: Uwe Boll

Producers: Brightlight Pictures/

Boll KG

Cast: unconfirmed

Shoot dates: July 5 to Oct. 20

Main studio facility: Vancouver Film Studios

Before B.C. raised its tax credits to mirror Ontario’s, Canadian producers Brightlight Pictures threatened to take this $60-million videogame adaptation to Ontario. Brightlight’s partner is Germany’s Boll KG, the shingle of helmer Uwe Boll. The two companies collaborated previously on the videogame-inspired flick Alone in the Dark.

Jonathan Shore, VP of post-production for Brightlight and the film’s associate producer, has his work cut out for him on this FX-heavy shoot. He explains that in some cases digital FX will serve to stylize the film, while in other instances CG enhancements will be used mostly to make the production more efficient.

The Wicker Man

Director/writer: Neil LaBute

Producers: Nicolas Cage, Neil LaBute, Randall Emmett, Norman Golightly, Avi Lerner, Trevor Short

Cast: Cage, Christopher Lee,

Sean Astin

Shoot dates: Starts July 15

Cage and LaBute team up for the first time in this remake of the 1973 cult thriller of the same name. The US$20-million-plus feature follows Sheriff Edward Malus, played by Cage, as he investigates the disappearance of a young girl from a remote island off the coast of Maine. When he discovers that pagan cults may be at the heart of the mystery, he also discovers his own life may be in danger. The original story took place off the coast of Scotland.

I Dream of Jeannie

Director: Gurinder Chadha

Production company: Out of the Blue Entertainment

Cast: Kate Hudson

Main studio facility: Mammoth Studios

Just as the 1960s I Dream of Jeannie TV comedy series ripped off the series Bewitched, this US$75-million feature ‘prequel’ follows this summer’s Bewitched feature. The plot of Jeannie involves an astronaut whose life gets complicated when he finds a bottle containing a sexy genie who wants him to be her master.

Chadha’s credits include Bend It Like Beckham and Bride and Prejudice. Jeannie comes out next fall.