For more than a decade, Georgia’s booming production sector was the envy of Hollywood. Thanks to a generous 30% uncapped tax credit, Atlanta and its surrounding studios became a global hub for blockbusters like Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Stranger Things, and The Walking Dead. The state earned the moniker “Hollywood of the South,” and crews often joked that Marvel practically owned entire soundstages at Trilith Studios.

But that golden era has come to a crashing halt.

Marvel Studios — long the crown jewel of Georgia’s production industry — has shifted most of its upcoming slate overseas, choosing the United Kingdom as its new home base. The exodus began with Fantastic Four: First Steps and continues with two upcoming Avengers installments and the next Spider-Man film. Rising labor costs, including healthcare expenses that studios must cover in the U.S., tipped the scales in favor of the U.K., where crews are cheaper and incentives remain competitive.

The fallout has been immediate and painful. Georgia hosted just 245 productions in the fiscal year ending June 2025, down from 412 in 2022 — a nearly 50% decline in three years. Trilith Studios, once a bustling, 34-stage complex where crews scrambled to book space, is now described as “largely empty.” Some workers have gone months, even years, without steady employment. “You feel like a jilted lover,” said script supervisor Janine Gosselin, who worked on multiple Marvel sets and now relies on her retirement savings to make ends meet.

The shift reflects a broader industry trend. High-budget projects are chasing lower costs abroad, with the U.K., Canada, and Australia seeing upticks in big-budget productions, while U.S. states battle to keep productions at home by expanding or refreshing incentive programs. Nationwide, the number of films and shows with budgets above $40 million fell 29% from 2022 to 2024, according to data from ProdPro. In the U.K., the same category jumped 16%.

For Georgia, the sting is particularly sharp. Marvel wasn’t just another client; it was the cornerstone that fueled nearly 20,000 local jobs, billions in spending, and an entire ecosystem of vendors, crews, and stage facilities. Workers once joked about “the house Avengers built.” Now, they’re humming a darker tune — rewriting Georgia’s famous tourism jingle as “Unemployed in Georgia.”

Industry watchers note that studios will continue chasing optimal conditions around the globe, and Georgia’s long-term future may hinge on whether it can reinvent itself again. “We hope this is just an anomaly,” said Lee Thomas, director of the Georgia Film Office. “Georgia still has world-class crews and facilities. But the global economics are shifting.”

For now, though, the Peach State’s biggest star has packed its bags. And Hollywood’s attention — and dollars — are looking elsewhere.