Written by on Mar 26, 2013. Posted in On Location

Pompeii films on location in Toronto and boosts billion-dollar Ontario industry

Big-budget feature Pompeii, set days before the eruption of Vesuvius in Roman Italy in 79 AD, is filming on location in Cinespace Film Studios in Toronto, Ontario. The Canadian province's other recent high-profile shoots include remakes of Total Recall and Robocop.

“Every project is different in exactly how it comes down the pipe,” Cinespace President Jim Mirkopoulos told the Toronto Star: “A large in-studio project such as Pompeii will typically put multiple-facility ‘holds’ all across the city on stages, usually months beforehand, and then decide on the best facility fit in terms of overall space and price package. Calls mostly come in based on previous business experience and existing relationships.”

Ontario has major international appeal and the production industry made nearly CAD1.3 billion in 2012 alone. Guillermo Del Toro’s Ontario-filmed monster movie Pacific Rim opens in the next few months, while TV productions include Suits, Covert Affairs and major sci-fi show Defiance (above).