Exclusive: Warner Bros. to shoot fantasy film World's Eater in Slovakia

Warner Bros. Studios is producing a new family fantasy film, World’s Eater, which is set to shoot in Slovakia from September.

The project will be directed by Tomas Bencik with a cast that includes David Macey (The Last Kingdom), Rudy Ella Jewels (LUX) and Louise Larsen. Plot details will be revealed soon.

Filming of World's Eater (working title) is expected to take place in the Low Tatras mountain range in central Slovakia, separated from the northern High Tatras by the river Vah. Local outfit Jump Cat is the service provider.

Payroll service provider Hargenant Global, based at the Warner Bros. Studios site in Leavesden, UK, is also supporting the project.

The production team has applied for Slovakia’s 33% cash rebate, which rose from 20% last year. In a further boost this year for international productions, the minimum local spend requirement in 2021 for a feature film has dropped to $122,000 (€100,000), and to $61,000 (€50,000) for documentaries and animations – both were previously $183,000 (€150,000). For TV features or series and slates of films (up to three) it is a minimum of $353,000 (€300,000).

Slovakia offers culturally rich and diverse locations, including the popular capital city Bratislava, the High Tatras mountain range, the city Kosice, forests, modern industrial and socialist-era architecture, medieval towns and more than 100 castles.

Recent projects to shoot there include Tereza Nvotova’s dark drama The Nightsiren, produced by Slovakia’s BFilm with Moloko Film from the Czech Republic and France’s Silvera Productions, and the fifth season of NBCUniversal/Nomadic Pictures’ fantasy horror Van Helsing. The producers for that show applied for the incentive through local outfit Spectral, requesting support of $682,000 (€560,000), representing almost 2% of the expected $44m (€36m) budget.

“The skillset, talent, experience and dedication to the craft is second to none,” says the series’ US producer Morris Chapdelaine of the local crews. “Equipment rentals, facilities, locations, transportation services and the incredible food are all things that stand out, but it’s the wonderful people that really made our show work here — on time and on budget.”