Glasgow movie: Warner Bros given £150,000 incentive to shoot major feature film in city

Warner Bros has been handed a £150,000 grant by Glasgow City Council to shoot a major feature film in Scotland’s largest city – and the Holywood production is expected to create hundreds of jobs and bring millions of pounds to the local economy.

A body double for Harrison Ford on Cochrane Street in Glasgow city centre during filming the new Indiana Jones 5 movie starring Harrison Ford in July 2021.

The as-yet-unnamed Warner Bros movie will employ local crew and talent where possible and is expected to create hundreds of jobs, with 250 to 350 crew employed daily and up to 1000 on some days.

Over the years, Glasgow has been used as a location in many films and TV series, including Indiana Jones, The Batman, The Flash, Vigil and World War Z.

The Warner Bros portfolio includes the DC Universe catalogue and filming for the latest production is expected to begin towards the end of this year.

Susan Aitken, Leader of Glasgow City Council, said: “While it’s great fun for a lot of people to see film and broadcast productions in Glasgow, this is very much an economic story – productions of this size bring millions of pounds to the city’s economy.

“What is significant about this support is that it allows the entire production to made in Glasgow – a first for the city – and confirms our place as a location of choice for major productions, and one that can compete with others in the UK and abroad.

“During this time of economic recovery and renewal, this economic activity is both welcome and important.”

The council said that the grant will provide opportunities for locally based talent and crew and see the use of local production facilities and services, studios and built space as well as the use of office space.

It said that the economic potential of such productions being based in the city is illustrated by British Film Institute figures which show film productions with a £60-£100million budget have an average daily spend of more than £750,000, while projects with a £100 million budget spend in excess of £1 million a day on average.

In July, Harrison Ford and Boyd Holbrook body-doubles were seen performing an apparent chase scene through Glasgow city centre as filming for what is thought to be the new Indiana Jones movie took place.

Several streets were transformed into the United States for the fifth movie in the franchise starring 79-year-old Ford.

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