Written by on Jul 28, 2011. Posted in Production News

Sylvester Stallone’s Expendables sequel to film on location in Bulgaria

Bulgaria’s Nu Boyana Film Studios has announced that Sylvester Stallone will be heading to Bulgaria to film the sequel to The Expendables. It marks a change from the first film, which was shot largely in New Orleans and Brazil, with the latter doubling for an anonymous South American country.

Bulgaria has been planning a filming incentive of up to 30% since early 2010, but nothing has yet materialised. The country nonetheless remains popular as a filming location, with production costs generally undercutting its European rivals by as much as 30%. Nordic feature Kon-Tiki is one of the most recent productions to have visited the country and made use of Nu Boyana’s New York street set.

The country is a popular filming location despite lacking a financial incentive. Production costs often undercut its European rivals by as much as 30%.

Espen Sandberg and Joachim Roenning, the directors on Kon-Tiki, said: “It is a great experience to come to Bulgaria. We could use two of the stages for internal shooting and just moving outdoors we were able to portray New York in the 40s. It was easy to find African American and Asian American people as extras.

“We found everybody here in Bulgaria and a lot of them are also actors. We are very happy with the technical and professional levels at Nu Boyana. We have a very small crew from Norway and the rest are from Bulgaria and they are excellent and professional.”

Peter Weir’s feature The Way Back doubled Bulgaria for Siberia and the upcoming remake of Conan the Barbarian was filmed entirely in the country.