THE AVENGERS PULL OUT OF MICHIGAN

by SuperHeroHype

It was already known that the majority of Joss Whedon's The Avengers would be shot at Albuquerque Studios in New Mexico, but additional scenes were expected to be filmed in New York and Michigan as well. The Detroit Free Press reports that is no longer the case. Here are several clips from the article:

Anxiety, uncertainty and anger are building in the metro Detroit film community over Snyder's budget plan, which essentially would eliminate the current film tax incentive and instead call for $25 million in each of the next two years for future movie projects. "They were all set to come here," said Chris Baum of Film Detroit, a division of the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau. When producers couldn't get confirmation that they would still qualify for the incentives, they decided to pull out of the state, Baum said. Tom Moisides got his call on Saturday morning: His services as a location scout for “The Avengers” would no longer be needed. Moisides, whose credits include the Eminem-Chrysler Super Bowl spot, Hugh Jackman's "Real Steel" andGerard Butler's "Machine Gun Preacher," said that he had been working to finalize contracts for his locations, he had hired an assistant and another location manager was expected to start this week. Moisides added that other members of the production were negotiating with local hotels and looking at office space, warehouse units and construction shops and mills. "I'm mad as hell," Moisides said Sunday. "I feel like I've been punched in the stomach. Something has to happen quickly if we're going to keep the film industry here, like a message from the governor that says, 'We're still open for business.' The reality is, because of the uncertainty, productions are shutting down immediately." Darcy Leutzinger, whose Washington Township-based Shotokan 911 worked on movies such as "Red Dawn" and the upcoming "Transformers" film, said his company had been contacted by "The Avengers" about helping with weapons armor and providing tactical SWAT officers and police officers for the production. He said he got a phone call Saturday saying that the project's Michigan plans were up in the air.