Oscar-winning filmmaker Martin McDonagh will be making part of his next movie in Utah.
The Utah Film Commission announced Friday that McDonagh’s next movie, a thriller called “Wild Horse Nine,” will be filmed in the state — and will receive money through the Rural Utah Film Incentive.
The movie is set to star John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell, Parker Posey, Mark Ruffalo and Tom Waits, the film commission said.
“Utah’s vast, cinematic landscapes and striking quality of light make it the perfect setting for ‘Wild Horse Nine,’” producer Anita Overland said in a statement released through the film commission. “Beyond its scenery, Utah’s highly skilled and professional crew base made the decision to film here an easy one.”
McDonagh wrote and directed “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” “Seven Psychopaths” and “In Bruges.” He won an Academy Award in 2006 for his short film “Six Shooter.”
The Hollywood trade publications Variety and Deadline both reported earlier this month that the movie is set to start shooting in March in Rapa Nui, the Indigenous name for Easter Island. No word yet on when the Utah shoot will start.
The Utah Film Commission announced four other productions that will receive incentives from the state:
• “(Saint) Peter,” a coming-of-age story written and directed by Josh Klausner (who wrote the Tina Fey/Steve Carell comedy “Date Night”).
“Having grown up in Salt Lake City until I was 12, the state of Utah is very dear to my heart,” Klausner said in a statement.
The movie is about a 14-year-old boy, he said, “and as I envisioned it I couldn’t help but picture the locations from my childhood. … Through our location scouts we’ve found such richness in the architecture and landscape, which will add so much character to the world of our movie.”
• Two Hallmark productions from Utah-based producer David Wulf, who made the 2022 Hallmark Christmas movie “Haul Out the Holly,” will receive incentives.
One is “Christmas on Duty,” to be directed by Jake Van Wagoner, whose Utah-made family comedy “Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out” premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.
The other is “Home Turf,” to be directed by Maclain Nelson, who made “Haul Out the Holly” and the Latter-day Saint summer camp movie “Once I Was a Beehive.”
• “Zeus,” an action-adventure film from producer Eric McLeod, whose credits include the “Godzilla vs. Kong” franchise. It was approved for the Rural Utah Film Incentive.
“In our search for a breathtaking backdrop to capture pivotal moments of the film, we found the perfect locations in Utah,” McLeod said in a statement.
The film commission says the five productions will generate an estimated $12.6 million in economic impact, and provide more than 400 jobs in Grand, Salt Lake, San Juan, Summit and Wasatch counties.
