‘Dune’ Oscar Haul a High-Water Mark for Hungary’s Booming Production Industry

variety.com:

Christopher Vourlias If Sunday night’s Oscar ceremony were a validation for Legendary Entertainment and Warner Bros., whose $165 million gamble on Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi tentpole “Dune” paid off in the form of six Academy Awards, it was no less a triumph for the Hungarian film industry, which hosted the blockbuster throughout much of production in 2019 and 2020.The trophy haul, which included an Oscar for production design duo Patrice Vermette and Hungary’s Zsuzsanna Sipos, further cemented the status of an industry that last year broke records with $650 million in total production spend.Herb Gaines, Legendary’s head of physical production, says the country ticked all the boxes to host a production on such a massive scale. “We were looking for a production base that could support a film of this magnitude as well as be logistically feasible for access to our desert location needs,” says Gaines, citing the convenience of a hub in the heart of Central Europe once Jordan became the front-runner for “Dune’s” sprawling desert sequences.

Budapest boasts a number of world-class studio facilities – including Korda Studios and the state-owned Mafilm Studio complex – but Origo Studios soon emerged as “by far the best fit for ‘Dune,’” says Gaines.

The studio, which also played host to Villeneuve’s dystopian sci-fi epic “Blade Runner 2049,” was able to meet “all our needs in one facility,” accommodating the production during both principal and additional photography in 2019 and 2020, respectively.“We were able to secure six large sound stages plus a huge area for a backlot as well as enough workshops to accommodate large manufacturing departments such as set dressing, costumes and special effects,” Gaines says.