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If you've driven past the Ciudad de la Luz studios in Alicante recently and noticed rather more activity than usual, there's a very good reason. Disney's live-action adaptation of Tangled has been based there since February, and the numbers coming out this week confirm just how significant a production it is for the region.

 

The Valencian president, Juanfran Pérez Llorca, announced that the film's presence in the community will generate a direct economic impact of more than €40 million by the end of 2026. That figure covers spending on equipment, logistics, professional services, rentals and personnel hired locally, and it works out at roughly eight times the €5 million grant the Generalitat contributed to attract the production in the first place.

 

Disney's decision to base the film at Ciudad de la Luz was confirmed earlier this year, with principal photography getting underway on June 29. Since then, between 200 and 700 people have been working on site daily depending on the week, with Disney renting four soundstages as well as workshops, warehouses and various production support facilities.

 

The studios are in use until the end of November, an eleven-month occupancy that Pérez Llorca described as making Ciudad de la Luz "the nerve centre of this international production and a global benchmark for audiovisual production."

 

Filming has also taken place in other parts of Spain, including the Basque Country and Catalonia, with locations in the Valencian Community including the Santo Domingo Diocesan School in Orihuela. The team is expected to return to Ciudad de la Luz in September to complete remaining sequences, with principal photography wrapping in October.

 

The film is directed by Michael Gracey and stars Teagan Croft as Rapunzel, Milo Manheim as Flynn Rider and Kathryn Hahn as Mother Gothel, with Diego Luna, Caitriona Balfe and Elliot Cowan also among the cast. It's based on the 2010 animated film, which took over $591 million at the worldwide box office and won a Grammy for Best Original Song.

 

The live-action version is due in cinemas on March 31 2028. Not long to wait, especially if you happen to live just down the road from where it was made.

 

 

Image: Generalitat Valenciana/Facebook