Thor: Ragnarok filming in Australia from July

“We opened the offices in Gold Coast about three months ago and we start principal photography in Gold Coast Australia on Thor: Ragnarok on 4 July and we’ll be shooting there through to late October,” said David Grant, an executive producer for Marvel Studios, in a video interview with local media outlet the Gold Coast Bulletin.

Although it will be Marvel’s first time in Australia, the studio’s parent company Disney brought the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise to the Gold Coast last year. Like the Pirates sequel, Thor: Ragnarok will be based at Village Roadshow Studios.

Australia offers a 16.5% Location Offset as part of a broader filming incentive programme for international shoots, but also provides sizeable one-off payments to the biggest Hollywood productions.

Thor: Ragnarok was first announced for Australia in October last year, at which point the government revealed it would be spending nearly AU$50m on incentive support that would be spread between the Thor sequel and Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant.

This week the government of New South Wales, down the coast from Queensland, stepped up its efforts to be internationally competitive by launching a local AU$20m film fund.

“We have our sights firmly set on stealing Queensland and Victoria’s big film and TV productions,” said Troy Grant, deputy premier of New South Wales, in a statement on his Facebook page.

There is already intense regional competition in Australia to attract the biggest film and TV productions. On top of this is the longstanding pressure on the federal government to increase the size of the Location Offset beyond the current 16.5% figure, to help the country compete with countries like Canada and the UK.

For more on filming in Australia see our production guide.

Image: Marvel Studios