DAN BILEFSKY
BUDAPEST ? This picturesque capital in the heart of Central Europe has played many roles.
It doubled for the sultry streets of Buenos Aires in the 1996 film “Evita ” ; provided the ambi ence of terrorist menace and revenge in 2005 for Steven Spielberg’s “Munich”; and is now standing in for Rome in “The Rite,” a thriller to be released next year starring Anthony Hopkins .
Yet for all of the city’s versatility as a film set, it is economic hard times that are helping to turn Hungary into Hollywood on the Danube.
Dozens of foreign film and television productions are choosing Budapest over Prague, Paris, London or Sofia for shooting in Europe, drawn largely by a 20 percent rebate on production costs, a weak local currency and low wages for crews.
"Every penny you can save and put on the screen is a huge boon for filmmakers,” said Steve Auer, the Budapest-based director of operations for Raleigh Studios, one of the largest independent film studios in the United States.
In April, Raleigh opened a sprawling 16-hectare complex outside Budapest. The $75 million facility contains a 3,700-square-meter sound stage that is among the biggest in Europe or the United States.
The studio’s back lot is being used to replicate the opulent Hotel de Paris in Monaco for the film “Monte Carlo,” co-produced by Nicole Kidman and set for release next year .
A producer of “Monte Carlo,” Denise Di Novi ? a Hollywood veteran whose previous credits include “Batman Returns” and “Edward Scissorhands” ? said that the studio was saving millions of dollars by filming primarily in Hungary, rather than in France.
“Hungary has crews who have the same expertise as those in Hollywood, but it is much cheaper to shoot here,” she said .
With the collapse of communism 20 years ago, more countries across Eastern and Central Europe have been jockeying to become Hollywood’s poorer but more economical cousin ? a quest that has gained urgency as the global financial crisis has caused a scramble for new sources of revenue to help fill depleted public coffers .
Hungary has a film tradition more than a century old. It has produced industry titans like Adolph Zukor, the founder of Paramount Pictures; Sir Alexander Korda, the founder of London Films and producer of “The Third Man ” ; and Michael Curtiz, the director of “Casablanca.”
Since Hungary first introduced its rebate in 2004, revenue from foreign film and co-productions has increased more than tenfold, to $157 million, in 2009, according to the Hungarian National Film Office.
Beyond the income generated , government officials contend, the glamour of becoming a film center can also help burnish a country’s global reputation and attract tourism and foreign investment.
But filmmakers say several challenges remain. Bureaucratic controls can be daunting. And Andras Rez, a leading Hungarian film critic, noted that foreign producers also faced resistance from some locals who feared that a Hollywood invasion was polluting popular culture . But he said that Hungarian filmmakers would benefit .
“In the 1960s, there was a film made in Budapest called ‘Why Are Hungarian Films So Boring?’ ” Mr. Rez said. “So this country can learn something from Hollywood.”
