On a recent winter morning in Fót, on the outskirts of Budapest, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán presided over a parade of officials and film industry luminaries at the ribbon-cutting of the new-look NFI Studios, the historic state-run complex that celebrated its official relaunch after a years-long push to expand and modernize a facility built at the tail end of WWI.
The renovated complex — which includes four new soundstages that increase the total studio capacity to more than 135,000 square feet — will give a much-needed boost to the production capacity in Budapest, where demand for studio space continues to surge.
Indeed, while “survive till ’25” was the mantra at many global production hubs last year, the booming Magyar biz — which is buoyed by a 30% tax rebate — is eyeing a return to pre-pandemic highs. “We’ve weathered pretty much every storm better than most,” says Adam Goodman, of Mid Atlantic Films, which is servicing Apple’s live-action “Matchbox” feature starring John Cena, and NBCUniversal’s Cold War spy drama “Ponies.” “Hungary will have another busy year.”
Principal photography is underway on Ruben Öslund’s “The Entertainment System Is Down,” with a star-studded cast including Kirsten Dunst, Daniel Brühl and Keanu Reeves, while “Wicker,” a romantic fantasy starring Olivia Colman and Dev Patel, is slated to shoot later this year. TV productions returning to Budapest in 2025 include the second seasons of HBO’s “Dune: Prophecy” and Sky and Peacock’s “Day of the Jackal.”
While the paint at the expanded NFI Studios has barely dried, its six stages are already booked through the end of the year. Ildikó Kovács, who heads the facility, describes its refurbishment as “an incredible qualitative level-up,” noting that “everything from the entrance to the back offices have been totally renewed, turning NFI Studios into a 21st-century, high-profile complex.”
According to Hungarian film commissioner Csaba Káel, the expansion will only further spur the continued growth of an industry that played host to Oscar contenders “The Brutalist,” “Dune: Part Two” and “Maria.”
“The last state investment of a similar scale in the Hungarian film industry was in 1936, when one of the largest and most cutting-edge studios in Central Europe was established — just as the NFI Studios in Fót are today,” Káel tells Variety. “In addition to ensuring the competitiveness of the industry, the new studios will also open bright new chapters in global filmmaking.”
