Czechia - a popular destination for Hollywood filmmakers

In spite of coronavirus, a number of foreign and Hollywood films and series are still being made in the Czech Republic. One of them is the war spectacle White Bird, another for example the action thriller The Gray Man.

So far, the most expensive original Netflix film - the Gray Man, which should resemble Bond films or the Mission: Impossible series with its expansion and a budget of 200 million dollars, should also be made in the Czech Republic in the spring. Filming with Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans in the lead roles began on March 1 in Los Angeles.

It is difficult to find out whether and when the stars will appear in the Czech Republic, as the production is reluctant to tell the details of the arrival of the stars for the sake of safety and the paparazzi. In the Czech Republic, however, one big Hollywood star is shooting right now. Gillian Anderson, known as Scully from the X-Files series, plays a pivotal role in the war drama White Bird: A Wonder Story. This is an adaptation of a successful comic in which a Jewish girl hides in Nazi-occupied France. Anderson plays her mother.

The Czech country was not always been so popular

The Czech Republic has a relatively complicated history with Hollywood. Until 2004, the country was one of the most sought-after film destinations in the world and, with the exception of the United Kingdom, had no competition in Europe. The period around 2004 includes the largest films shot in the Czech Republic, such as Hart's War, the League of Extraordinary, The Knights of Shanghai, Mission: Impossible, Agent without a Past and Blade 2.

However, starting in 2005, foreign filmmakers from the Czech Republic began to disappear farther east. Although the Chronicles of Narnia or the Casino Royale were filmed here, in neighboring countries such as Hungary and Romania, the filmmakers recovered some of the money they spent in the country. The Czech Republic introduced these incentives for filmmakers only after long discussions in 2010, while many Hollywood hundreds of millions have fled elsewhere. Since 2010, filmmakers can claim a refund of 20 percent of the money spent in the Czech Republic.