'Gone Girl' filming cost almost $3 million

The Missouri Department of Economic Development has released preliminary expenditures for "Gone Girl" filming in Cape Girardeau.

The movie's total expenditures, not including payroll, equaled $2,981,228 during filming last fall.

The total tax credits to be issued to 20th Century Fox for its production of the feature film starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike amount to $894,368.

The tax credits come through the DED's Film Production Tax Credit program, which began in 1999. It issues state tax credits to qualified production companies for up to 35 percent of their in-state expenditures in an effort to boost filming in Missouri. The entire tax-credit program is capped at $4.5 million.

Nathan Nickolaus, general counsel for the DED, said the nearly $900,000 in tax credits issued to 20th Century Fox equaled 30 percent of the "Gone Girl" production's in-state expenses, not including payroll. Payroll numbers were excluded because the department is "still discussing some issues with producers on those numbers," Nickolaus said in an email.

He also said the department received about 33 notebooks filled with receipts outlining the production's in-state expenses.

Although location scouting efforts began as early as May 2013, filming began in Cape Girardeau in September and wrapped in October. As crews renovated shooting locations such as the gazebo on the Common Pleas Courthouse lawn and an empty downtown coffee shop that became "The Bar," they were spotted purchasing materials at local stores and eating in local restaurants.

The movie, which deals with the media circus surrounding the disappearance of a man's wife, is due in theaters Oct. 3. It is based on the novel by American author Gillian Flynn.

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

Pertinent address:

Cape Girardeau, Mo.