Written by on Oct 31, 2013. Posted in On Location

Robert De Niro comedy recreates Las Vegas filming on location in Atlanta

Robert De Niro’s new feature comedy Last Vegas largely recreated the city of Las Vegas on location in Atlanta, drawn by Georgia’s generous filming incentives. Spaces from Las Vegas’ luxury Aria hotel were recreated in Atlanta under the watchful eye of the brand’s marketing team.

The Last Vegas production team built a set of Aria’s Haze nightclub for a five-minute scene in the film, along with a chapel and a hotel suite. Aware that the hotel’s portrayal in the film could boost interest in their brand, Aria’s marketing team paid close attention, supplying blueprints for the club scene and even supervising the set design.

“We had them in touch with our design people very regularly to make sure that what they built for Haze and for the suite would be true to our brand,” Jenn Michaels, senior vice president of public relations at MGM Resorts International, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, adding that even details of the suite’s technology features were considered: “We were involved in that process the entire way and had approval over everything that they did to make sure that they didn’t lose any of what Aria is as they built that.”

A limited ten-day shoot took place in the real Las Vegas to help De Niro and his co-stars Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline capture the feel of the city by encompassing key iconic locations like the Stratosphere tower and the Neon Museum.

We had them in touch with our design people very regularly to make sure that what they built for Haze and for the suite would be true to our brand.

Jenn Michaels, MGM Resorts International

Nevada is scheduled to launch a filming incentive of up to 19% for productions spending at least USD500,000 locally. The programme has been slated for January 2014 and will run for four years with an annual film fund of USD20 million.

Authorities will be hoping to avoid cases like the recent short-lived 1960s-set TV series Vegas, which ended up filming on a 200-foot-long set in California during its brief run.

Last Vegas opens in the US this week and rolls out worldwide over the coming months.