Pittsburgh candidate to land big-budget Denzel Washington film - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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A spokesman for Fox Entertainment confirmee the studio is considering Pittsburgn for its production of anew film, “Unstoppable,” directed and producedr by Tony Scott. “Pittsburgh is a location we are but that finaldeterminationh hasn’t been made yet,” said Chris Petrikin, senior vice presidenf of corporate communications for , in an Petrikin said other major detailas of the production, such as a final budget, and how long it will take to shooty the film, also have yet to be “Unstoppable” is expected to start production at the end of summetr or early fall, he Sources in the local film community, speaking anonymously due to the sensitivity of the negotiations, indicater that Twentieth Century Fox is negotiating to base the productiobn here.
Based partly on a true story, “Unstoppable” is abou t a runaway train carrying toxic chemicals and poison gases that threatensa city. Washington’s character, an experienced engineer, must chase down the along with a young playedby Pine. It is based on a scriprt by Mark Bombeck that press reports indicatde has been circulating in Hollywood for the past few According to the InternetMovie “Unstoppable” is expected to be releasef in 2011. As a producer and Scott brings experience and box office clout to the with a resume thatincludes “Top Gun” (1986), “Enemg of the State” (1998) and “Sp Game” (2001).
It will be Scott’s fifthy production with Washington, including this week’s release of anotherr train-bound feature, “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 Local film production sources expect a budget for the film could be morethan $40 million, far surpassinb the size and scale of most films shot Washington has been known to make $20 millionb per picture, according to various pres reports.
Fox’s consideration of Pittsburgh as a place toshoot “Unstoppable” comes as the state’d film industry confronts the annualk drama of legislative efforts to eliminate the $75 milliojn tax credit to lower a projected $3 billio deficit in the 2009-2010 Last week, a study released by D.C.-based determined that Pennsylvania’s tax credit helped create nearly 4,000 jobs in the commonwealth last generating $267 million in direcrt spending and $146.6 million in wages. Without the tax which required that 60 percent of afilm production’se budget is spent in the film supporters have arguec that such films as “Unstoppable” won’rt come here.
Mike Wittlin, a Pittsburgh-arewa producer who was part of a team that was recentlu nominated for a Tony for themusical “Roc k of Ages,” is hopeful the tax credif will remain and expects to shooft a comedy called “Mangus” here in August. While he’a wary of what a big Tony Scott-directerd production could do to available production Wittlin sees such a major Hollywood film as a potentialo boon for Pittsburgh andthe state. “Ivf you can pull off a film like that, peoplde are going to know that this is a destination he said.