The Czech Republic awaits the shooting of two big-budget American movies this fall. Over the coming months, the WWII period drama The Zookeeper’s Wife and the fifth part of the action fantasy series Underworld: Blood Wars will be shot at Czech locations and studios. In total, the two productions plan to spend over a billion crowns during the filming. In both cases, the directors are women: Niki Caro and Anna Foerster, respectively.

Theo James plays David in Underworld: Blood Wars / © Screen Gems, © Lakeshore Entertainment

Just a few days after the filming of Anthropoid ends, Czech film professionals have two great challenges ahead of them. Already on 29 September work starts on The Zookeeper’s Wife, a film drawing on historical events from the Second World War. The story is set in the Warsaw Zoo, whose director, Jan Żabinski, and his wife, hide Jewish citizens in abandoned buildings.

The director is the New Zealand native Niki Caro, who can take pride in having won a number of prestigious festival awards for the films Whale Rider (2002) and North Country (2005). Moreover, both of her leading actresses, Charlize Theron and Frances McDormand, were nominated for Oscars. With The Zookeeper’s Wife, Caro will direct one of today’s hottest Hollywood stars – Jessica Chastain, and the third time may be a charm when it comes to the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Cast for the lead male role (of the German zoologist, Lutz Heck) is one of the most famous contemporary German actors, Daniel Brühl, best known from Inglorious Basterds (2009) and Good bye, Lenin! (2003). Brühl was also nominated for last year’s Golden Globes and BAFTA awards for his role in Rivals (2013).

For the shooting, Czech filmmakers have built a set zoo in Prague, at which hundreds of animals will be filmed, including elephants, lions, tigers, leopards, zebras, camels or bison. Apart from three elephants that arrived from Germany, all the animals are from the Czech Republic. The animals appeared before the cameras already on the 8th and 9th of September, as the crew needed to capture the kind of “positive” summertime atmosphere before the war and bombarding began. Shooting in the Czech Republic will continue through 26th of September.

“It’s great news that the Czech Republic is one of the best countries in Europe to film in again. We are expecting many more great projects like this one next year,” said Kevan Van Thompson, line producer for The Zookeeper’s Wife in the Czech Republic, whose company Czech Anglo Production has been filming the hit BBC series The Musketeers here.

It’s great news that the Czech Republic is one of the best countries in Europe to film in again.

The second big project this autumn is the fifth part of the vampire saga Underworld: Blood Wars. Kate Beckinsale will be in the main role again, supported by Theo James, known from the series Divergence (2014). Filming starts in Prague on 5 October.

In this case, the project will also be in a woman’s hands. Until now, director Anna Foerster has been helming, in particular, television series, including episodes of Criminal Minds (2009-2011) and Outlander (2014-2015). But she is known above all for her cooperation with Roland Emmerich on the special effects for the blockbuster Independence Day (1996) and the Godzilla remake from 1988.

Underworld is a production of the LA based Lakeshore Entertainment, which has been present in Prague since 2012 through its European branch, Lakeshore International.

“We are really looking forward to bringing UW5 to Prague this fall. The Czech Republic has world-class locations, great production facilities and international-caliber crew, as well as a straight-forward, efficient production rebate. It’s a great place for us to be,” said Richard Wright, Lakeshore Entertainment’s Executive Vice President and Head of Production of Underworld: Blood Wars.

The line producer on the Czech side is Stillking Films, which has participated in films such as Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011) or Child 44 (2015). The total spending of filmmakers in the Czech Republic will exceed 32 million USD.

The Czech film industry will open 2016 with an improved incentive scheme as the Czech government implements some important changes to the rebate. Producers will be able to register at any time and immediately receive a registration certificate that guarantees payment of the rebate upon fulfillment of all conditions.

“The planned changes in the scheme will make the system even friendlier and more flexible for film productions. It will be a great opportunity to show that the Czech film industry is capable to meet any challenge to the benefit of all sides,” said Ludmila Claussová, the head of the Czech Film Commission.

“The first eight months of 2015 has confirmed what last year already showed: The rebate scheme is drawing more and more foreign productions to the Czech Republic,” Claussová said “The fall looks great in Prague, and we are thrilled to welcome some big-budget U.S. productions here.”