Cocaine Bear movie sniffs up €2m to €5m in corporation tax credits
Gordon Deegan
The Irish production firm behind hit Hollywood horror comedy, 'Cocaine Bear’ this year secured movie corporation tax credits between €2 million and €5 million from the Revenue Commissioners, new figures show.
The global hit, shot on location in Co Wicklow and starring Keri Russell and the late Ray Liotta is loosely inspired by the story of a bear who reputedly ingested a large amount of lost cocaine that was dropped from a drug smuggler’s airplane in the rural areas of Georgia in the US in the 1980s.
Powerscourt Waterfall and Avoca Mines in Co Wicklow were chosen as locations to represent the Georgian wilderness where the real-life incident took place.
The new figures show that Wild Atlantic Pictures Ltd obtained the €2 million to €5 million in corporation tax credits in May of this year.
The movie, which opened to positive reviews and grossed over $89m at the global box office - was one of a number of high profile productions to obtain Section 481 tax credits for the first six months of 2023.
The new Revenue figures show that Sharon Horgan's multi-award winning Bad Sisters also obtained movie tax and TV production tax credits between €2 million and €5 million.
The critically acclaimed black comedy set in Dublin and starring Horgan, Eve Hewson and Sarah Greene - won four IFTAs and two BAFTAs including Best Drama series.
The original title of the drama was called ‘Emerald' and the Revenue figures show that Merman Television (Dublin) Ltd obtained tax credit of between €2 million and €5 million for Emerald (Bad Sisters).
The Revenue figures also show that the largest budget production to date this year, Season 3 of Netflix hit, Valhalla has secured tax reliefs between €10 million and €30 million in late May.
The producers of fantasy romantic comedy, Irish Wish starring Lindsay Lohan and Jane Seymour, Wild Atlantic Pictures Ltd secured tax relief of €2 million to €5 million this year.
The movie - slated for release next year - was shot in Dublin, Wicklow and Westport last year.
The figures also show that Blade Rights Ltd’s Sand & Stones starring Hollywood star, Nicolas Cage and shot in Dublin and Wicklow secured corporation tax credits of €1m to €2m
The figures also show that RTE primetime drama, Kin Season 2 secured tax credits of €2 million to €5 million while Season 2 of Harry Wild also secured corporate tax credits of between €2m and €5m.
The multi-award winning Element Pictures Productions Ltd secured tax credits of between €2m to €5m for its psychological thriller, The Wonder.
The figures show that the movie production company, Four Provences Films Ltd secured corporation tax credits of between €1 million to €2 million for a screen adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s Pulitzer prize-winning play, Long Day's Journey Into Night starring Jessica Lange and Ed Harris.
