ATLANTA — When Marvel Entertainment releases “Thunderbolts*” in theaters this weekend it will mark the end of an era for Georgia.

Thanks to the state’s tax credit system and new stages at Trilith Studios in Fayetteville, Georgia has been home to 13 big budget Marvel movies over the past decade including multiple “Ant-Man,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Avengers,” “Spider-Man,” “Black Panther” and “Captain America” films.

Collectively, Marvel has spent more than $3 billion in the state, with those movies collectively generating more than $12 billion in worldwide revenue in theaters alone.

But after “Thunderbolts*,” which many critics are saying is the best Marvel film in years, the production company has no films slated to shoot in Georgia.

Marvel, which didn’t respond to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution query seeking comment, has chosen instead to primarily shoot its Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies in London for now. That includes not just the upcoming “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” set to be released in July but the next “Spider-Man” film and two more Avengers movies.

In a sign of Marvel’s retreat from the state, it held a massive, multiday auction of equipment and props in Atlanta last fall. Among the items that were sold: silver suits of armor, medieval horses, antique Westinghouse stoves, rolls of police tape, World War II-era fatigues, a life-size Orca whale and a replica New York City subway car.

Georgia’s tax credit, which provides up to a 30% break on expenses for movies and TV shows, is uncapped, meaning there is no limit to how many credits can be doled out any given year. Most other states, including California and New York, place an annual cap on their credits. As a result, Georgia for a time attracted a horde of movies that exceeded $50 million in budget from “Bad Boys for Life” to “Jumanji: The Next Level.”

But in recent years, foreign countries have enhanced their credits, often beyond 30%. This has given production companies a greater incentive to send films overseas. For instance, Universal has moved its franchise properties “Jurassic World” and “Fast and the Furious,” which shot three of its sequels in Georgia, outside North America.

Many countries such as Ireland, Spain and Bulgaria are less unionized than the United States, especially crew members. This means Marvel and others can pay drivers, gaffers, set construction workers and wardrobe designers in Europe at lower rates than they do in the United States.

London, which has no cap limit to its credits, has become an especially strong magnet for pricier fare.

Randy Davidson, who runs Georgia Entertainment, a promotional information portal for the state, said he has heard complaints about the high cost of drivers due to the Teamsters union contract. “The Teamsters have made their own deals with a couple of studios,” he said, “so that’s helped some projects.”

Given the competitive landscape, it’s not surprising that “Thunderbolts*,” which stars Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan and David Harbour, may end up being the last Marvel film to use Georgia as its home until the winds shift again.

“It is disappointing,” said Stephen Weizenecker, an Atlanta entertainment attorney. “ Georgia remains one of the top locations for filming large budget productions with great facilities, crews and a competitive incentive. Labor issues drove production overseas and we need to work hard to bring production back to the U.S. generally and Georgia specifically.”

That won’t be easy in the current environment. The movie theater business, despite showing recent signs of recovery, is nowhere near as big as it was before the pandemic. Streaming companies are not in the free-spending mode they were a few years ago.

And the Georgia legislature has shown little appetite to boost the tax credit again. (Legislators this year did streamline the auditing process, which some producers have complained has made it harder to get their tax credits in a reasonable time frame.)

Other states are also losing business. California, which has seen production in Los Angeles down 22% in the first quarter vs. a year ago, is considering a proposal to more than double its tax credit cap to $750 million.

New Mexico in 2024 had its slowest production year since 2017. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul recently offered enhancements to its credit system.

How Marvel landed in Georgia was a case of unusual bedfellows: Pinewood, best known for hosting more than 20 James Bond movies over multiple decades in London, and Dan Cathy, chairman of Chick-fil-A, the popular Georgia-based chicken sandwich fast-food chain.

Cathy, after renting space for Lifetime’s “Drop Dead Diva,” was seeking to do something bigger with Hollywood at the same time as Pinewood was looking to expand into America. In 2013, the two parties struck a deal to build state-of-the-art studios on 700 acres of wheat fields in Fayetteville, 20 minutes from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

Pinewood Atlanta Studios quickly drew interest from Marvel, who had shot earlier films in Los Angeles, New Mexico and New York. In 2014, Marvel placed “Ant-Man” starring Paul Rudd at Pinewood with an eye-popping budget of $130 million.

Happy with the results, Marvel over the next decade pumped out movie after movie in Georgia, receiving around $1 billion in tax credits in return, using Pinewood as its primary home base. Cathy eventually took over the entire studio in 2019 and renamed it Trilith. He also expanded the studio from 18 stages to 34 by 2023, by far the most in the state at a single location, and built a city from scratch featuring a hotel, restaurants and a wide variety of housing options.

Trilith was also a recipient of Marvel’s foray into TV. Since 2019, Marvel has shot several Disney+ series there including “WandaVision,” “Hawkeye,” “Agatha All Along,” and the upcoming “Ironheart.” But the Disney+ TV cupboard for Georgia is currently bare.

Marvel has cut back the volume of both its TV shows and MCU films, which have not been as consistently successful as they used to be. For instance, “Captain America: Brave New World,” which was shot in Georgia, came out in February to mixed reviews and disappointing box office grosses for an MCU film.

On the bright side for Georgia, production companies have been largely keeping TV series in North America in part because shows could potentially last for years and American actors would prefer to stay in the country long term, said Davidson of Georgia Entertainment.

Trilith also has a deal with Warner Bros.-owned DC Studios, which has enabled its stages to stay at least partially full. The next “Superman” film set to come out in July and a live action “Moana,” which will be released next year, were shot there. Trilith, which declined to comment about any aspect of this story, wouldn’t say when its arrangement with DC ends.

Georgia has had an estimated 25 active film and TV productions at any given time in recent months, far below totals during the state’s heyday in the late 2010s and after the pandemic. Recovery since the actors and writers strikes of 2023 has been slow and uneven.

But the number of scripted fare in Georgia has edged up in recent weeks.

“I’m feeling a lot better than I did in 2023 and 2024,” said Mike Clark, who runs Eagle Rock Studios in Stone Mountain and Norcross, which hosts series like ABC’s “Will Trent” and Paramount+’s “Tulsa King.” “We’re slowly rebounding and finding out what the new normal is. More local crew members are finally getting back to work.”

Joel Harber, who runs Athena Studios in Athens, said the strong dollar has placed the U.S. at a disadvantage in recent years, but current economic uncertainty has weakened the dollar, benefiting domestic production. “Atlanta is getting thrown back into the mix compared to London,” he said. “We’re starting to look more favorable again.”

Harber said he would love to see Georgia increase its tax credit to 40% while capping the amount of tax credits to $1 billion per year since he doubts expenditures would ever reach that figure any time soon.

“I’m not advocating for a cap but if you’re uncapped and not competitive, what’s the point?” Harber said.

At the same time, he added, “People are getting tired of shooting overseas and would like to come back.”

All Marvel movies shot primarily in Georgia

"Ant-Man" (2015)

Estimated budget (production only): $130 million

Worldwide revenue: $519.31 million

Besides Trilith, other locales used: The State Archive Building in Atlanta, downtown Savannah

"Captain America: Civil War" (2016)

Estimated budget: $250 million

Worldwide revenue: $1.15 billion

Besides Trilith, other locales used: Clayton State University, Peachtree Christian Church in Atlanta, Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center

"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" (2017)

Estimated budget: $200 million

Worldwide revenue: $863.76 million

Besides Trilith, other locales used: Cartersville

"Spider-Man: Homecoming" (2017)

Estimated budget: $200 million

Worldwide revenue: $880.17 million

Besides Trilith, other locales used: Midtown High School in Atlanta, New York City, Los Angeles

"Black Panther" (2018)

Estimated budget: $200 million

Worldwide revenue: $1.35 billion

Besides Trilith, other locales used: High Museum of Art, EUE Screen Gems, South Korea

"Avengers: Infinity War" (2018)

Estimated budget: $316 million

Worldwide revenue: $2.05 billion

Besides Trilith, other locales used: Piedmont Park, Woodruff Park, Tallulah Gorge, Philippines, Brazil, Scotland

"Ant-Man and the Wasp" (2018)

Estimated budget: $388 million

Worldwide revenue: $622.7 million

Besides Trilith, other locales used: Emory University, San Francisco

"Avengers: End-Game" (2019)

Estimated budget: $356 million

Worldwide revenue: $2.8 billion

Besides Trilith, other locales used: Bouckaert Farm in Fairburn, SANY America in Peachtree City, the Proscenium in Midtown Atlanta

"Spider-Man: No Way Home" (2021)

Estimated budget: $200 million

Worldwide revenue: $1.91 billion

Besides Trilith, other locales used: New York City

"Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" (2022)

Estimated budget: $200 million

Worldwide revenue: $859.2 million

Besides Trilith, other locales used: Mary Ross Waterfront Park in Brunswick, MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" (2023)

Estimated budget: $250 million

Worldwide revenue: $845.6 million

Besides Trilith, other locales used: London

"Captain America: Brave New World" (2025)

Estimated budget: $180 million

Worldwide revenue: $414.8 million

Besides Trilith, other locales used: Washington, D.C., Japan, Mexico

"Thunderbolts*" (2025)

Estimated budget: $200 million

Worldwide revenue: TBD

Besides Trilith, other locales used: Utah, Malaysia

SOURCE: Box Office Mojo, IMDb

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