Credit: Marvel StudiosFor years, Disney has been making billions working in the American South. While the company’s origin story begins in California, Disney has been a southern company since Walt decided to build his massive new theme park in Florida over 50 years ago.
However, it’s not just theme parks that helped to make Disney wealthy. For years, Disney has been using the American South as a lucrative spot for filming some of its biggest hits, but all that is coming to an end.
According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, Disney is moving the filming of its Marvel films out of Georgia to the United Kingdom, decimating the “Hollywood of the South.” For over a decade, Disney has used Georgia’s generous tax incentives to film some of its biggest hits and help create an industry in the state, but with the UK offering better deals, Disney is taking its filming elsewhere.
Disney/Marvel moved to Georgia in 2015 with Ant-Man and continued to use the state as a home base for its billion-dollar hits, Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019). Disney used Trillith Studios in Fayetteville, Georgia, as recently as last year when filming Thunderbolts (2025).
However, as hiring American workers is becoming more expensive, Disney is bringing its newest Marvel films to the UK. Fantastic Four: First Steps, the next Spider-Man film, and the next two Avengers movies are heading overseas.
Since 2022, Georgia has seen a 50 percent decrease in the number of film productions in the state, devastating a once-thriving industry. Unlike in the UK, film workers in America are given higher wages and health insurance, which drives up costs for studios. Those looking for cheaper labor and to avoid paying for insurance are looking across the pond, where the tax incentives are comparable to Georgia’s.
Earlier this year, Donald Trump threatened to put a 100 percent tariff on films made outside America, but he has yet to act on that threat. With Hollywood looking to cut corners and save on filmmaking, more companies are moving their productions overseas. The upcoming Wicked For Good (2025) was also made in the UK to save on production costs.
This seems like a change that will continue despite California’s effort to bring production back to the state. Even in the film industry, American workers just want insurance and a living wage, but can’t seem to get it.
What do you think about Disney moving its film production to the UK to save money? Let us know in the comments.