UK taxpayers contributed £89m to fund ‘Jurassic World: Rebirth’
The upcoming blockbuster Jurassic World: Rebirth has benefited from a scheme boosting the British film industry, which resulted in the previous picture Jurassic World: Dominion Universal Pictures pocketing £89m of taxpayer money.
Universal Pictures has now filmed three Jurassic movies on British soil to benefit from the scheme. Reports of a makeshift jungle in North London are one of many moves that eventually resulted in Jurassic World: Rebirth becoming the most expensive movie ever made.
The UK government incentive scheme began in 2007 and was designed to drive investment in the UK’s film industry. It reimburses studios up to 25.5 per cent of the sum they spend on making a movie in the UK, provided that at least 10 per cent of its total cost is incurred there.
The latest data from HMRC shows that it paid movie studios a total of £553m in 2023. This brings the total paid since 2007 to £5.9bn.
However, there is evidence that the scheme is working and proving beneficial. Data from the British Film Institute (BFI) shows that in 2019, every £1 of reimbursement handed to studios generated £8.30 of additional Gross Value Added benefit for Britain’s economy.
The scheme marks a divergence in how the UK and US film industries operate. The cost of movies made in the US usually remains a secret. Studios tend to absorb the cost of individual films in their overall expenses and do not itemise how much was spent on each.
This isn’t the first time the film franchise has made headlines. Recently, star Scarlett Johansson revealed that she rejected Universal’s request to join Instagram in a bid to promote the new movie, Jurassic World: Rebirth.
“Is there a way I could do this and stay true to who I am? It didn’t feel like I could,” she said of her decision. “I think they’ll be fine,” she added.
Jurassic World: Rebirth is directed by Gareth Edwards and will be released on July 2nd, 2025.
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