Warner Bros. Withdraws Las Vegas Movie Studio Proposal

Posted on: February 20, 2025, 05:37h. 

Last updated on: February 26, 2025, 02:26h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Restaurants, Las Vegas Myths.
  • Bills were introduced in the Nevada Legislature this week to build two major film studios in Las Vegas
  • Warner Bros. backed out of its pledge to build one of them and was replaced by a smaller studio
  • Sony, its rival, still intends to build the other

Warner Bros. Discovery has withdrawn its pledge to build a $8.5 billion movie studio in Las Vegas and has been replaced by a smaller film and TV production studio.

Warner Bros.’ Studios Nevada was to have been built on the 122-acre UNLV Research & Technology Park in southwest Las Vegas.  (Image: Nevada Legislature)

Tug of Warner

As Casino.org reported last month, Newport Beach, Calif.-based Birtcher Development pulled out of its deal to build the Warner Bros. Studio. At the time, Warner Bros. said it still intended to build the facility with another developer, if the state still extended its promised tax credits.

Senate Bill 220, known as the “Nevada Film Infrastructure, Workforce Development, Education and Economic Diversification Act,” was introduced on Wednesday to provide $100 million in annual transferable film tax credits for 15 years (from 2029 to 2043). However, the beneficiary would now be Manhattan Beach Studios, the LA-based film and TV production facility that produced “Iron Man” (2010), “Thor” (2011) and “The Avengers” (2012).

“They’re on board with us all the way,” the bill’s sponsor, Democratic State Sen. Roberta Lange, told Casino.org on Thursday.

Lange said Warner Bros. — which initially pledged $900 million in construction and $8.5 billion in production spending over 17 years — “wanted to take a pause and decide where they wanted to be.”

Bircher still plans to build the new facility with Manhattan Beach Studios.

Don’t Say Goodbye to Hollywood, Yet

Summerlin Production Studios, shown in a rendering, is the sole major studio proposal remaining for Las Vegas. (Image: Howard Hughes Corp.)

A similar proposal from Sony, Warner Bros.’ arch-rival, is still on track, and another bill was introduced to Nevada’s Assembly this week to create the tax credits that will hopefully suffice to get that studio built.

Assembly Bill 238 allocates up to $105 million annually in tax credits for 15 years (also from 2028 to 2043), with $80 million specifically reserved for productions filmed at Summerlin Production Studios, and $25 million for independent productions elsewhere in Nevada.

In return, Sony would be required to invest at least $400 million in Nevada. According to the bill, at least half of every film using the studio must be shot in the state, and none may take longer than 18 months to complete.

Sony’s Las Vegas Studio would be a $1.8 billion development featuring 10 soundstages, production facilities, and a two-acre backlot on 31 acres near Flamingo Road and Town Center Drive. Sony agreed to build it in partnership with the Howard Hughes Corporation, which owns the land.

In March, the Clark County Zoning Commission voted unanimously to support that project.