Next Marvel action film 'could be shot in Suffolk'

Danny McDermott (AKA EJEK) Stan Lee muralDanny McDermott (AKA EJEK)
A major Marvel superhero film may be shot in Suffolk, according to new papers

The location of a big-budget Marvel action movie to be shot in the UK has been hinted at in council papers.

Screen Suffolk has revealed talks "are under way" to secure filming at an undisclosed location in the county later in 2019.

It came in a report showing the organisation had generated £3.8m for Suffolk between 2016 and 2018.

Halesworth and Lowestoft feature in the Richard Curtis and Danny Boyle film Yesterday, to be released this summer.

Yesterday/Working Title Films/Danny Boyle Himesh Patel singing in YesterdayYesterday/Working Title Films/Danny Boyle
Richard Curtis's new film Yesterday, starring Himesh Patel and directed by Danny Boyle, was filmed in Suffolk and Norfolk

The report to the Suffolk Public Sector Leaders Group (PSLG), which funds Screen Suffolk, said, aside from the Marvel film, talks were also in progress over a "Sony Pictures series about the alleged UFO sightings in Rendlesham".

But the group said it could not reveal any further details about upcoming projects.

Marvel, which produces the Spider-Man, The Avengers and Iron Man series of films among many others, has been contacted for comment.

Screen Suffolk was founded with a grant of £160,000 in 2016 to promote the county as a filming location, and has been given a further £50,000 to continue until 2020.

'Fantastic work'

In its first two years, 336 days of filming were completed - a significant increase on the estimated 30 days a year before Screen Suffolk was set up.

It calculates an average filming day brings £11,500 of spending in the location area, equivalent to £3.864m since Screen Suffolk was founded.

During five days of shooting Armando Iannucci's film The Personal History of David Copperfield in Bury St Edmunds, £82,000 was spent by the crew on hotels, food, drink and other services.

Other projects filmed in the last two years include:

  • The Crown (Netflix) - Elveden Hall
  • Detectorists (BBC4) - Framlingham and Suffolk County Council headquarters in Ipswich
  • Escape to the Country (Channel 4) - Sudbury and Wickhambrook
  • The Child in Time (BBC1) - Shingle Street
  • Fearless (ITV) - Bentwaters Park

Jennie Jenkins, independent PSLG chairwoman, said Screen Suffolk had done "fantastic work".

"The film-making industry is clearly booming and highly competitive, so it's vital that we make sure directors and producers know what Suffolk has to offer when they're looking for locations," she said.