In the opening scenes of the latest Vin Diesel action movie, troops in the Dominican Republic chase the hero through a rainforest and down a twisty mountain road. But in real life, the government is doing all it can to welcome the Hollywood star – or anyone else who wants to produce a film in this Caribbean country.
The filming here of some scenes from xXx: Return of Xander Cage is a sign of progress in efforts to persuade the film industry to use the Dominican Republic’s lush mountains, white-sand beaches and colonial architecture as a backdrop.
“Now, we are on the map,” said Yvette Marichal, director of a government agency created in 2010 to woo film production companies to the country and to regulate their activities here.
Marichal spoke in a recent interview after returning from the Cannes Film Festival, where her agency had a pavilion promoting the country’s varied landscape along with tax breaks and other incentives to lure companies from other destinations, including other parts of the Caribbean or the U.S.
Besides the Vin Diesel action flick, which grossed more than $300 million at the box office this year, the country’s film credits have grown to include last year’s Netflix production True Memoirs of an International Assassin, as well as 47 Meters Down, which stars Mandy Moore and opens in the U.S. on Friday.
There are small-screen offerings as well, including the Turkish version of competition series Survivor, which moved to the Dominican Republic’s Samana area in the north, as well as the Greek version, which is moving from Argentina’s Patagonian region, and a Swedish production of The Bachelor.
All or part of 45 foreign productions, including full-length movies, documentaries and reality TV shows, were filmed here last year. There were another 20 full-length movies for the domestic market, compared to three in 2010.