Written by on Sep 22, 2011. Posted in On Location

Zack Snyder’s Superman to double Vancouver Island in British Columbia for Alaska

It seems Alaska is still having problems attracting the big productions. The new Superman film, Man of Steel, will be doubling British Columbia for Alaska. Specifically, the production will be building an Alaskan fishing village in the District of Ucluelet on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

It’s not clear yet why the film - codenamed Autumn Frost - chose British Columbia over Alaska, but according to the Vancouver Sun the Location Manager, Rino Pace, listed the project’s intentions to Ucluelet council: “Autumn Frost will film in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island from early September through to the end of January 2012. We have been preparing the film since early spring, which includes building ‘sets’ in the various ‘stages’ in and around the Vancouver area.”

The news will be a blow for the Alaskan film industry, which could use a big-budget production to boost its filmmaking credentials and raise its profile.

Man of Steel is being overseen by Christopher Nolan and has already used Chicago as Metropolis, while The Dark Knight Rises broke with tradition and used Pittsburgh as Gotham City.

The news will be a blow for the Alaskan film industry, which could use a big-budget production to boost its filmmaking credentials and raise its profile. Last year the state launched filming tax credits worth as much as 44% for filming in some of the more remote areas. One of Alaska’s biggest issues seems to be crew availability, with the industry only really capable of servicing one major shoot at a time.