Matt Damon’s The Last Duel big winner in tax relief for films

Matt Damon’s The Last Duel was one of the big winners in securing movie tax relief from Revenue last year.

Figures from Revenue show that the amount of tax relief under section 481 of the Taxes Consolidation Act granted to Metropolitan Films International Ltd for the critically-acclaimed film was between €10 million and €30 million last year.

Revenue said the value of payments to qualifying firms under the film corporation tax credit in 2021 was €137.1 million. In 2020 it was €138.7 million. The payments concern films certified from 2015 to 2021.

Lockdown

Damon was in Ireland during lockdown for the Covid-19 interrupted filming of the Ridley Scott-directed historical drama. Images of the Hollywood actor with his SuperValu shopping bag while out in Dalkey provided some light relief during the first lockdown here.

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The Last Duel – currently streaming on Disney – had a star-studded cast with Damon, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer and Ben Affleck starring. However, it struggled at the box office.

The only other production to receive between €10 million and €30 million in tax relief last year was Disney’s Disenchanted.

Metropolitan Films International Ltd also received the movie tax relief in this case for the production starring Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey, which is due for release later this year.

The figures also show that the eagerly anticipated TV adaptation of Sally Rooney’s Conversation with Friends secured tax relief of between €1 million and €2 million.

The relief was granted to Element Pictures Productions Ltd and the Lenny Abrahamson-directed, 12-part series is due to be broadcast by the BBC in the coming months.

Figures

Revenue's figures also show that the five-time Oscar-nominated Cartoon Saloon Ltd last year secured between €5 million and €10 million for the firm's My Father's Dragon.

The production is being directed by Nora Twomey and is to be shown on Netflix.

In a busy year for Brown Bag Films, the company secured tax relief ranging from €1 million to €2 million for four separate productions – Vampirina Series Two, Ridley Jones Series One, Ada Twist and Karma’s World.

Metropolitan International Ltd last year secured €2 million to €5 million for RTÉ ratings winner, Kin.

For the first nine months of last year, Revenue granted 68 applications for section 481 movie and TV tax relief. This compares with 87 for 2020 and 102 for 2019.