A total of 33 movies and TV shows are shooting in Georgia this month, the feature film A Bad Moms Christmas (Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn) among them. Look for it this holiday season.
That number is up from 27 at this time in 2016, continuing evidence that the Hollywood of the South remains a big player in the mega-bucks entertainment industry. According to a recent study from FilmL.A., 17 features shot in Georgia in 2016, making it the most popular location in the world. The United Kingdom, with 16, finished second. Canada (13) and California (12) rounded out the Top 4. New York and Louisiana, with six productions each, were the other top U.S. locations.
Take that in for a moment and consider the state’s growth. In 2007, the Georgia Film, Music and Digital Entertainment office reported an economic impact of $241 million for all film/TV productions here. In 2015, the most recent figures available, it reported an economic impact of $7 billion.
On the TV side, “The Hunger Games,” “The Walking Dead” and “Divergent” continue to film in Georgia as well as an abundance of reality shows (“Spartan: Ultimate Team Challenge,” a rebooted “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” “3000 LB Family”) and game shows (“Dish Nation,” “Family Feud,” “Game Night”).
According to the website Project Casting, these are among the features now in production or scheduled to film in Georgia this year:
- Ant-Man and the Wasp, a sequel to the 2015 Marvel film Ant-Man. With Evangeline Lilly, Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas. In pre-production. Will begin filming in July.
- The Best of Enemies, the story of civil rights activist Ann Atwater who takes on the Ku Klux Klan while fighting to desegregate schools in Durham, N.C., in the 1960s. Now filming, with Anne Heche, Tariji B. Henson and Sam Rockwell. No release date available.
- The Darkest Minds, about the aftermath of a disease that kills 98 percent of America’s children and what happens to the 2 percent left behind. With Mandy Moore. Due for a September 2018 release.
- Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Plot unknown. With Millie Bobby Brown, Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga and Bradley Whitford. Due for a March 2019 release.
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Nick Robinson Rampage, based on the 1980s video game of the same name. With Dwayne Johnson and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Due for an April 2018 release.
- Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, about a young gay teen who comes out to his classmates in an unusual way. Nick Robinson plays the teen, with Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel as his parents. In post-production. Due for a March 2018 release.
