More than $7.8M spent filming movie in Missouri

CAPE GIRARDEAU (AP) - More than $7.8 million was spent filming the major motion picture "Gone Girl" in southeast Missouri, according to Missouri's economic development department.

That makes 20th Century Fox eligible to receive up to $2.36 million through the state's film tax-credit program, which expired not long after "Gone Girl" wrapped up its filming last fall.

In the adaptation of Gillian Flynn's best-selling novel, Ben Affleck stars as a husband under the suspicious glare of the media and the scrutiny of the police when his wife goes missing. The thriller premiered last week.

The film studio said Thursday that production in Cape Girardeau lasted about two months. The production hired 116 Missouri residents, including more than 30 off-duty law enforcement officials, and used about 1,400 extras.

Efforts have been made to revive the film tax credit. State Rep. Kathy Swan, a Cape Girardeau Republican, previously sponsored a bill in an attempt to continue the program, but was unsuccessful. She plans to revive the bill in December.

Juan Camacho, executive director of government affairs for Fox Entertainment Group, was among those delivering brief speeches before the first Thursday night showing of "Gone Girl" in Cape Girardeau. He commented on the city's warm, welcoming attitude. But he also said tax credits were pivotal and that without them, filming in Missouri would have been cut short - if it had happened at all.

"Without the tax credits, we couldn't be here. That's the way the business is going right now," Camacho said.