A sad update today to the 1st movie project I started following back in April…. “The Fifth Mafia” movie will not be coming to Grand Rapids.

It was going to be the first movie shot in West Michigan since the April tax incentives offering movie makers up to 42%… but now, we have to report that “The Fifth Mafia” will NOT be filming here.

In an email that somehow slipped through my inbox over the weekend… Producers of the movie say: “Executives have decided to shoot our film in New Mexico… (they) would rather have come to Grand Rapids.  …. Unfortunately, we have run out of good weather in Michigan.  We are planning toshoot in Nov-Dec., and since we need to simulate a Guatemalan scene, we cannot do it at this time of the year in MI.”

On August 12th, I told you that there were delays… but we hoped it would still be on while the weather was still good.has another feature, a comedy up next year and he wants to shoot it there.  It can be shot rain, snow or shine and he definitely wants to come back to Grand Rapids.”

In that same email, Producers of the movie say that the director, Vito J. Giambalvo “has another feature, a comedy up next year and he wants to shoot it there.  It can be shot rain, snow or shine and he definitely wants to come back to Grand Rapids.”

So we’ll look forward to their return sometime in the future.