The US-owned production company behind Daniel Craig’s upcoming “Knives Out” movie bagged a $41 million handout from the UK government in exchange for using London to shoot scenes that depict a leafy suburb in New York, The Post has learned.
Revealed in little-noticed UK filings, the massive subsidy offers a rare window into how governments overseas are luring away big US movie productions – a devastating trend for Hollywood that has lately sparked threats of tariff-fueled retaliation from President Trump.
Britain’s blockbuster incentives slashed the total bill for Netflix’s “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” to $151.7 million, according to filings with the British companies register. That’s versus a total tab of $192.7 million – an outsize figure even by Hollywood standards which nevertheless was “in line with the production budget,” according to the filings.
The $41 million subsidy came courtesy of the UK’s Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit, which gives film and high-end TV productions a cash reimbursement of 25.5% on their eligible UK production expenditures.
The aggressive wooing has aroused the ire of Trump, who vowed in May that a 100% tariff will be applied to movies entering the US that are produced in “foreign lands”.
While Trump hasn’t followed through, he reiterated the threat last month. In response, Hollywood moguls and stars including Jon Voight have asked the president to instead consider US tax incentives that would put Hollywood on more competitive footing.
The number of shooting days in Los Angeles last year was down 35.7% versus 2019, making it one of the least productive years since 1995, according to the permit issuing office FilmLA. The outlook hasn’t improved since the end of last year.
FilmLA recently announced that over the three months through September, LA production was even lower than during the 2023 actors’ and writers’ strikes. The decline was due to “ongoing loss of work to rival territories,” it said earlier this year.
Meanwhile, data from the British Film Institute (BFI) shows that foreign studios contributed around 87% of the $2.2 billion spent on making films in the UK last year which was a 7.6% increase on the amount in 2019.
While the first “Knives Out” movie was filmed in Massachusetts, the cost of making movies has increased sharply since writers and actors agreed a new pay deal following the strikes.
While Hollywood studios don’t typically break out specific movie spending, those that shoot in the UK are required to file detailed statements. For “Knives Out,” a total of $5.9 million was spent on 61 production staffers for film shoots between June and August last year. Pay for the stars and other crew members wasn’t revealed as they are on contracts, the records show.
The third installment in Netflix’s comedy crime caper series, which stars Craig as debonair detective Benoit Blanc, is slated to hit theaters next month before becoming available on Netflix two weeks before Christmas.
The firm behind the franchise, Sweet Beans Productions, is owned by the movie’s American director Rian Johnson and its Israeli producer Ram Bergman.
The first two films were huge hits for Netflix and it needs the third to follow suit. Last week, the streamer’s shares crashed by 10% when its third-quarter results missed analysts’ forecasts.
Netflix didn’t respond to a request for comment.
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