Ridley Scott and his executive producer Aidan Elliott were in Rome working on House of Gucci when the two were discussing locations for Scott’s upcoming historical epic Napoleon for Apple when the director thought Malta, where he’d famously filmed Gladiator, would make for a great location for a beginning scene in the film for the siege of Toulon.
“The siege of Toulon was Napoleon’s first military victory where he really showed his potential as a future expert in the field,” says Elliott. “There was a very specific geography needed to achieve this and Ridley, being someone who likes to do things practically as much as possible as opposed to visual effects, remembered Valletta and the port there, which is a spectacular Napoleonic port.”
They decided to fly from Rome the next day to take a look at Valletta’s suitability and, says Elliott, “it was almost a no-brainer.”
The cherry on top came when they found that Malta, at the time, was about to introduce an enhanced cash rebate, stipulating more attractive incentives that included a new hybrid above-the-line cap and opening up below-the-line expenditures to all international crews.
“There was a beta version of it flying around, an unapproved white paper that was doing the works in the government and the idea was that we’d be the first film to actually take advantage of it, which we happily did,” says Elliott. “It just absolutely cemented our decision to go there because not only did we have this great location and backdrop, but we also had this incredibly, incredibly generous cash rebate.”
He adds, “I would go almost as far to say it’s probably the most generous cash rebate in the world, and I don’t say that lightly.”
What’s so attractive about this rebate, from an international perspective, is that it applies not only to local crew and local facilities, but it applies to all incoming crew and, even equipment coming in from the outside, “so long as it can’t be sourced locally in Malta,” says Elliott.
“We took around 500 people to Malta and we were able to get the rebate on all of those people and that equipment,” he says.
Napoleon (which is estimated to be a more than $100 million budget) shot 15 days of its 100-day shoot in Malta and was, says Elliott, an incredible experience. He was particularly impressed by the strength in its local construction departments.
“We built the Toulon sets on the very same ground that Ridley had previously built the Colosseum for Gladiator and [Ridley said] there were a lot of the same faces in the construction this time around,” says Elliott.
“The quality and the finish of the sets were exemplary – as you know [production designer] Arthur Max is a very demanding designer with very high standards, and he was very happy with the finish.”
Malta Film Studios
Meanwhile, Michael Malone, producer for Apple TV+’s sci-fi hit Foundation, used Malta’s extensive water tank facilities to create a water world in the Foundation universe.
“The water tanks are exceptional,” says Malone, who is well-versed on water tank facilities after his work on Life of Pi. “We used all three for a science fiction scene where it’s like the drain of a big city.”
The three water tank facilities at Malta Film Studios include: the Shallow Tank, which is two meters deep and used for special effects sequences; the Insert Tank, a freshwater tank used for close-up underwater shots; and the Deep Tank, which is used for underwater set-builds.
“The tanks in Malta are very versatile and you can put a ship either in the Big Tank or the Deep Tank,” says Malone. “They suited our production to a tee, and I just loved working there.”
He adds, “I intend to come back to Malta for sure – you can get antiquities and modern Europe and Valletta offers so many different looks. I was really surprised at how accessible all the locations are and how great they look. The harbours are just amazing.”
As ever with generous rebates being offered up, there has been some local pushback and Elliott notes that it’s inevitable that one would question the long-term affordability of this latest incentive.
“Johann [Grech] and his team have obviously run these numbers and, like most of these rebates, they often do show to pay their own way as they have in the UK,” says Elliott. “I suppose there is always going to be a political component about how people feel about large amounts of money being spent on silly little movies but, so far, it’s proved very successful. Films are lining up to go there and, as long as that happens and it’s not just a flash in the pan, they’re going to build Malta into a very, very strong business.”
He adds, “There’s a real genuine feeling that they want to try and make something lasting there and you don’t get that everywhere. So, it was quite refreshing, and I think that does make you want to go back if the movie is right for it.”