Tenerife local news

The making of the Warner Bros. Pictures big budget movie “Clash of the Titans” means the island will earn two and a half million Euros in revenue.

José Manuel Bermúdez, the first vice president and councillor for tourism at the Tenerife Island Government, highlights “all the hard work invested over the past few months by Turismo de Tenerife and its Film Commission, which has enabled us to bring a major film production to the island starring the likes of Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes”.

Warner Bros Pictures will fly a 350-strong production team to Tenerife to work on the island from 15 May to 3 June 2009. A substantial part of the 2.5m euro expenditure will be spent on accommodation, transport and maintenance. They will also hire one hundred local people on the island as extras for different scenes and a variety of support staff including a Tenerife company, Sur Production & Services, who have managed the castings for the extras, found offices and obtained the required permits etc.

Tenerife was selected as a location for the movie thanks to an initiative by the Tenerife Film Commission. Last October, the film’s location manager, Robin Higgs - who has worked on movie series like “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Harry Potter” - was invited on a fam-trip and was amazed by Tenerife’s landscapes. Many meetings and visits followed, including the film’s director and producer who then decided to shoot a part of the film - nearly 20 per cent of the total - on the island. The selected locations are the Teide National Park and the coast in the districts of Icod, Buenavista del Norte and Guía de Isora plus some pinewoods and mountain areas.

The movie is being directed by Louis Leterrier, who also directed “The Incredible Hulk” and “Danny the Dog”. In addition to Liam Neeson (“Schindler’s List”) and Ralph Fiennes (“The English Patient”), co-starring in the movie will be Sam Worthington (“Terminator Salvation”) in the role of Perseus and Gemma Arterton (“Quantum of Solace”). Other leading roles will be played by actors such as Mads Mikkelsen (“Casino Royale”) and Jason Flemying (“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”). The film's producers are Basil Iwanyk ('We Are Marshall') and Kevin De La Noy ('The Dark Knight'). The executive producers are Richard D. Zanuck ('Yes Man') and Legendary Pictures' Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni and William Fay ('300').

“Clash of the Titans” is an adventure filled epic which tells the tale of the war between men, kings and the gods. Based on the cult 1981 film of the same name, the storyline revolves around the myth of Perseus and his quest to save Princess Andromeda. The release date is set for early 2010.

The Island Government’s Department of Tourism has counted on the support of both the Departments of the Environment and Roads as well as the Canary Islands Government and the National Parks.