„On the outskirts of the Hungarian village of Etyek, 29 km (18 miles) west of Budapest, there is a sprawling open area surrounded by vineyards. During the Cold War, this was a military base with missiles trained on Western Europe. Today, the missiles are gone, replaced by another type of technology focused on the west — film cameras. The spot is now home to The Korda Film Studios, a massive high-tech movie-making facility, one of several studios and production companies transforming Budapest into a cinematic hub thanks to its cheap talent, seductive tax breaks and could-be-anywhere architecture. "The [film] business in Budapest is thriving," says Amy Horkay-Szabados, Production Executive of the Stern Film Studio & Media Center outside Budapest, adding that there have been a dozen movies shot in and around the city over the past year. "Right now Budapest is hot."
So hot that in April, Hollywood-based Raleigh Studios, in partnership with Hungary's Origo Film Group, opened the doors on a $76 million super-studio complex rivaling the Korda Film Studios in size and sophistication. Soon after, Raleigh's sound stages became host to the 20th Century Fox romantic comedy Monte Carlo, while Korda has just announced a deal to service the Showtime network production of The Borgias, the latest historical mini-series from The Tudors creator Michael Hirst. The horror thriller The Rite, with Anthony Hopkins, is currently being shot in Budapest, using select streets as a backdrop for Rome, and local teenagers still chatter about glimpses caught of Twilight star Robert Pattinson, who was recently in the city shooting the historic love story Bel Ami.”