Hungary’s ‘Hollywood on the Danube’ faces Trump tariff threat

AFP/APP

Budapest: A prop axe was carried in as crew members prepared a horror movie scene inside Budapest’s former psychiatric institute—just one of the many Hollywood productions currently filming in the Hungarian capital.

But Hungary’s booming $1-billion-a-year film industry, often dubbed “Hollywood on the Danube,” may soon face its own horror story: potential tariffs threatened by US President Donald Trump.

“It’s like a meteor heading towards Earth. Either it passes, or it hits us,” said Karoly Radnai, managing director at Andersen, a top Hungarian tax consultancy. “There is no way to adapt. If Trump introduces tariffs, that will be very bad for us.”

Hungary has long attracted major foreign productions thanks to its diverse filming locations, comparatively low labour costs, and a generous cash-rebate incentive scheme.

The central European nation of 9.5 million people has become a favourite shooting destination for everything from big-budget sci-fi epics like the “Dune” franchise to arthouse period dramas, including “The Brutalist,” winner of four BAFTAs and three Golden Globes.