• Director Roland Emmerich has committed to filming his next three projects in Montreal, guaranteeing thousands of jobs.
• Emmerich is known for his action-packed blockbusters and apocalyptic dramas.
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The Legault government is officially in the movie game. A new announcement from the office of the Premier indicates that Hollywood heavyweight director Roland Emmerich has signed on to shoot his next three feature films in Quebec a part of an agreement struck when Legault visited California in December of last year. The deal is between Centropolis Entertainment, Emmerich's production company, and Investissement Québec, who will participate by investing US$10 million.

In turn, the government of Quebec will get a share of production revenue. This could mean big money, considering the large-scale blockbusters that Emmerich is often attached to.

Notable films that Emmerich has been involved with as either writer, director, or both, include Stargate, Independence Day, Godzilla (1998), The Day After Tomorrow and last year's Midway.

As it turns out, Emmerich is no stranger to shooting his films in Montreal, as several of the titles above were shot either on location or on set in La Belle Province.

In the press release, Emmerich admits, "Quebec is the best place to make films and I love shooting in Montreal. It's a great city for filmmakers."

He also added, "being German, I feel almost at home. In North America, it's the closest city to Europe, with great restaurants [and] cultural nightlife." 

Midway was shot in Montreal just last year. The World War II drama starred Joe Jonas, Woody Harrelson, Mandy Moore, and Denis Quaid.

Prior to that, in 2015, Emmerich used Montreal as the backdrop to Stonewall starring Joey King and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. In 2013, Emmerich's filmWhite House Downbrought Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx to our city.

And the 2004 apocalyptic drama Day After Tomorrow, written and directed by Emmerich, was also shot in Montreal and brought the likes of Jake Gyllenhaal, Denis Quaid, and Emmy Rossum.

So it's clear that Emmerich is not lying when he says he loves shooting in Montreal, as is evidenced by his longstanding choice to film here whenever possible.

This stands to be true for his upcoming film, Moonfall, as well. While still in pre-production, Montreal is already listed as a filming location on IMDb. Filming is set to begin in August of 2020.

The production cost of Emmerich's next three films is estimated to be approximately US$400 million.

These productions will employ approximately 800 full-time and 2,400 part-time employees in Quebec. Locally available positions will include actors, extras, production and technical staff, and construction employees.

In the press release, Legault indicates that Emmerich's "next three films" will be produced in Montreal. However, Emmerich indicates the Centropolis Entertainment team is "delighted to create our next feature film series [in Montreal]."

This is interesting to note, considering Emmerich is set to be involved with the reboot of Stargate, which has been in talks since 2014, which could mean he potential for a series of Stargate films, which would all be shot in Montreal.

Emmerich wrote and directed the original Stargate, which was shot in California in 1994.