Al Pacino to Make Vegas Return, Says Film Credit Application

Posted on: March 27, 2024, 04:30h. 

Last updated on: March 28, 2024, 12:14h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Restaurants, Las Vegas Myths.

Movie producers are good at keeping secrets. Their jobs depend on the public not knowing exactly where and when movie stars will assemble to work ,since lookie-loo crowds often ruin scenes.

Al Pacino
Al Pacino, shown portraying casino owner Willy Bank in 2007’s Ocean’s 13, plans on returning to Las Vegas to film a new movie. (Image: Warner Bros. Pictures)

But applying for tax credits to the Nevada Film Office, a part of the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development, means that certain details of film shoots become public knowledge.

And that’s exactly how we know that Al Pacino and Vince Vaughn have committed to a movie set to shoot in a few months at Wynn Las Vegas on the Strip and the El Cortez downtown.

IMDB describes Easy’s Waltz, written and helmed by True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto, making his directorial debut, as a comedy about “a down-on-his-luck crooner” (Vaughn) given a chance at a comeback by an old-school Vegas promoter (Pacino) … until “his brother’s (Simon Rex) schemes and his own penchant for self-sabotage threaten to ruin the deal.”

In the film blogosphere, Easy’s Waltz, which also stars Michelle Monaghan, has been described as Swingers  meets A Star is Born.

The tax credit form was filed by an applicant named EW Film. The Nevada Film Office is scheduled to vote on its approval at a hearing on Thursday.

According to an incentive calculation worksheet included in the agenda for Thursday’s hearing, the film intends to spend around $8 million in Nevada, qualifying it for a tax break of $1.43 million.

“Tourism will also be bolstered through the presence of iconic celebrities spending time in the state, namely Al Pacino and Vince Vaughn,” the application states. “Additionally, the content of the film itself advertises the glamorous nature of Las Vegas shows, making the movie’s audience more likely to visit the state of Nevada.”

Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn shot the Vegas scenes from their career-making 1996 movie “Swingers” at the Fremont Hotel and Casino downtown. (Image: Miramax)

Vegas, Baby, Vegas!

Vaughn famously got his breakout role in the 1996 movie  Swingers, which was filmed partly in Las Vegas.

Easy’s Waltz will be co-executive produced by Todd Phillips, who also got familiar with filming in Las Vegas while directing The Hangover.

Only last week, the Clark County Zoning Commission voted to approve multiple variances that set the stage to develop Summerlin Production Studios. That’s a $1.8 billion co-production of Sony Pictures Entertainment and the Howard Hughes Corporation, which owns the land on which the studio will be built.

The studio was designed to help Mark Wahlberg fulfill his dream of transforming his new adopted hometown into “Hollywood 2.0.”