The Irish production firm behind hit Hollywood horror comedy "Cocaine Bear" this year secured movie corporation tax credits between €2m and €5m from the Revenue Commissioners, new figures show.
The global hit was shot on location in Co Wicklow and starred Keri Russell and the late Ray Liotta.
It 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 €2m to €5m 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 €2m and €5m.
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 €2m and €5m 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 €10m and €30m 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 €2m to €5m 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
They also reveal that RTÉ's primetime drama, Kin Season 2, secured tax credits of €2m to €5m 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 movie production company Four Provences Films Ltd secured corporation tax credits of between €1m to €2m 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.
The figures also reveal that Saffron Pictures Ltd obtained corporation tax credits of between €1m to €2m for Hidden Assets 2.
Last year, the value of payments made under the Section 481 film corporation tax credit scheme was €127.3m.
The 2022 total was €9.8m down on the value of film corporation tax credits totalling €137.1m in 2021.
A Revenue spokesman confirmed today that the value of Section 481 claims paid out by Revenue to production companies for the first six months of this year total €79m compared to €55m for the corresponding period last year.
He said that it should be noted that these figures relate to payments which comprise a mixture of first instalment (90%) claims and final balancing claims made on completion, and also relate to projects certified over multiple years.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
