Las Vegas Unveils Blockbuster Future: $1.8B Sony Movie Studio Gets Green Light

Posted on: March 20, 2024, 03:31h. 

Last updated on: March 21, 2024, 11:55h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas.

The Clark County Zoning Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to approve multiple variances that set the stage for the development of Summerlin Production Studios. The first serious proposal to build a movie studio in Las Vegas is nowhere near “action” yet. But it has just passed “lights” and is well on its way to “camera.”

Hollywood Sign in Las Vegas
AI renders the Hollywood Sign in Las Vegas. (Image: ChatGPT)

A co-production of Sony Pictures Entertainment and the Howard Hughes Corporation, which owns the land, the $1.8 billion facility is proposed for 30 acres in the Las Vegas suburb of Summerlin South. That’s located nine miles west of the Las Vegas Strip.

The mixed-use project will consist of 13 structures with approximately 500K square feet of indoor stages, production offices, prop workshops, bungalows, conference rooms, and a backlot. Plans also call for a restaurant and a satellite office for Clark County administration officials. The tallest building will be four stories and reach 79 feet.

A rendering of Summerlin Production Studios, located on the corner of Town Center and Flamingo drives. (Image: Howard Hughes Holdings)

“I think this is an opportunity for not only hundreds of millions of dollars in investment and construction jobs … but thousands of additional permanent jobs that are good paying jobs, mostly union jobs,” said Clark County Commissioner Justin Jones.

Cinema City

Mark Wahlberg appears at the Las Vegas opening of his family’s Wahlburgers restaurant chain in 2017. Wahlberg is a consultant on the first major motion picture studio proposed for Las Vegas. (Image: blog.caesars.com)

During the public hearing, commissioners heard from both unions and film students supporting the project. The students said a studio like this would keep them from being forced to relocate to L.A. to work.

“With Howard Hughes and Sony Pictures Entertainment, as a filmmaker here in Las Vegas, I am ecstatic for the opportunities and space that can be created with this project and help other young filmmakers like me get the opportunity in our own beautiful state to gain the experiences we need to work in an industry we love,” said recent UNLV Department of Film graduate Faith Nault.

The seeds for this project were sown in September 2022, shortly after Hollywood star Mark Wahlberg purchased a $14.5 million Las Vegas mansion. He said in interviews that he wanted to remake his new hometown into “Hollywood 2.0.”

David O’Reilly, CEO of Howard Hughes Holdings, immediately set up a meeting with Wahlberg to flesh out the idea, and then another with Tony Vinciquerra, CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Wahlberg is supporting the project as a consultant.

No construction timeline has been released, as many more approvals are necessary. The next step is an agreement with the Nevada Film Office, a part of the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development, on possible tax credits that can be offered to developers.