It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superman! A new movie on the comic book hero is filming in Ohio this year and has been awarded about $11 million in tax credits, with plans to hire more than 3,000 locals.
The DC Studios movie titled simply “Superman” is filming in Cincinnati and Cleveland this spring and summer and will receive $11,091,686 in tax credits, according to an Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit application filed under the project’s code name, “Genesis.” The film is expected to hire 3,254 Ohio residents to take part in the production.
DC’s Ohio-related expenses are projected to exceed $36 million, which makes up about 10% of the movie’s total budget of more than $363 million. The film is directed and written by James Gunn and started filming on Feb. 29, with cameras to start rolling in Ohio this month.
The last possible production date in Ohio is marked for Aug. 23, according to the film’s tax credit application. Broken down, the application says the production in Ohio accounts for 133 days of prep, 37 shoot days and 31 days for wrap. That means 25% of Gunn’s movie is being filmed in Ohio.
While the application does not specify where exactly filming will take place, the iconic character is connected to both Cincinnati and Cleveland. Writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster created Superman while attending Cleveland’s Glenville High School in 1933, according to Case Western Reserve University’s Encyclopedia of Cleveland History.
Union Terminal in Cincinnati was the inspiration for the Justice League’s headquarters, the Hall of Justice, featured in the 1970s animated “Super Friends” series, the Cincinnati Museum Center boasts. Artist Al Gmuer drew the Hall of Justice and based his creation off of the façade of Union Terminal, earning the building a permanent place in popular culture.
Gunn, also the director of Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” trilogy, is relaunching DC’s cinematic franchise with American actor David Corenswet as Clark Kent, replacing British actor Henry Cavill who first starred as Superman in 2013’s “Man of Steel.” Rachel Brosnahan from “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” as Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult from “The Great” as Lex Luthor rounds out Gunn’s cast.
“Superman” is one of 23 movies and TV shows filming in Ohio in 2024, that together have been given more than $44 million in tax credits. Ohio’s movie tax credit program provides a refundable tax credit of 30% on cast and crew wages and other spending for feature-length films, documentaries, pre-Broadway productions, video games, and music videos.
“Investing in these productions fuels the vibrant creativity that’s alive in Ohio’s communities and serves as a powerful catalyst for economic growth,” said Lydia Mihalik, director of the Ohio Department of Development. “These projects celebrate and showcase our diverse landscapes, generate jobs, stimulate local businesses, and create a lasting legacy for the arts in Ohio.”
The 23 projects total nearly $503 million in production expenses and are expected to create 530 full-time jobs. Other projects include a movie rolling in Cincinnati awarded $6,052,988 in tax credits under the code name “Epiphany,” and a film in Columbus given $385,853 named “Down to the Felt.”
Applications for Ohio’s movie tax credit program are reviewed in two rounds each year, with $50 million awarded annually between the two rounds. Projects are awarded first to TV shows, then to all others, based on the positive economic impact in Ohio and the effect on developing a permanent workforce in motion picture or theatrical production industries in the state.
“Superman” is scheduled to be released in theaters on July 11, 2025.
