Warner Bros. Joins Arch Rival Sony in Las Vegas Film Studio Proposal

Posted on: February 26, 2025, 02:53h. 

Last updated on: February 26, 2025, 03:02h.

Corey Levitan Read More

Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Restaurants, Las Vegas Myths.

• Warner Bros. has decided to partner in building Las Vegas’ first major film studio with Sony
• The project hinges on the passage of an Assembly bill granting it $80M in annual tax credits
• Warner Bros. pulled out of a competing studio bill, which replaced it with a smaller studio

Warner Bros. Discovery couldn’t beat the $1.8 billion film studio being planned by Sony Pictures Entertainment and Howard Hughes Holdings in Las Vegas. So it’s joining it.

On Wednesday, the rival studios announced a joint proposal to develop Summerlin Studios, named after the Hughes-developed Sin City suburb that would host it. The facility would feature 10 soundstages, production facilities, and a two-acre backlot on 31 acres near Flamingo Road and Town Center Drive. It would be built in partnership with the Howard Hughes Corporation, which owns the land.

The project — approved last March by the Clark County Zoning Commission — is contingent on Assembly Bill 238 being passed by the Nevada Legislature. That bill, introduced to the Nevada Assembly on Feb. 17, would provide $105 million in annual film tax credits from 2028 to 2043 — $80 million of which would be set aside specifically for Summerlin Studios.

“We are excited to work with Sony Pictures and with Howard Hughes to bring large- and small-scale film and TV productions to Nevada,” Simon Robinson, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, said in a statement. “We are approaching this legislative session convinced now more than ever that expanding to Nevada provides us with our ideal third production hub, and we are committed to providing direct benefits to the state, educational programs and institutions, and the next generation of Nevadans looking to work in the thousands of different jobs needed to support a steady stream of productions.”

AB 238 caps film tax credits at $10 million per year and $6 million per production, and also requires at least $400 million to be invested in Nevada. A new version, amended to reflect Warner Bros.’ participation, will be presented to the Assembly Revenue Committee on Thursday.

Tug of Warner

Sony had been planning to develop Summerlin Studios on its own, while Warner Bros. announced plans last year to build Warner Bros. Studios Nevada, an $8.5 billion rival complex. That project hinged on the passage of Senate Bill 220, which would provide $100 million in annual film tax credits from 2029 to 2043.

However, in a drama worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster, the builder of Warner Bros.’ studio (Newport Beach, Calif.’s Birtcher Development) withdrew from the proposal last month, leaving Warners to weigh new options.

By the time SB 220 was introduced on Feb. 19 by Nevada Sen. Roberta Lange, Warners had dropped out and was replaced by a much smaller studio — Manhattan Beach Studios, the LA-based film and TV production facility that produced “Iron Man” (2010), “Thor” (2011) and “The Avengers” (2012).

Though Lange told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Wednesday that the Sony/Warner Bros. announcement won’t scotch her proposal, it’s hard to imagine that being the case if it comes down to a battle of the bills for Nevada’s precious tax credits.

Though Sony and Warner Bros. have shared a studio lot before (the Burbank Studios from 1972 to 1990), their announcement of a collaboration on Wednesday caught most industry observers by surprise.