NO CHEERS IN HOLLYWOOD AS FILM RIVAL FLATTENED.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

Hurricane Katrina appears to be quickly washing away Louisiana's goal of becoming Hollywood South with several major studio films now halted in midproduction while other projects in preproduction are now in question.

Louisiana was becoming nearly as big of a headache to the Southern California movie industry as the runaway-production capitol, Canada, with an increasing number of projects being lured south by generous tax incentives and a rapidly growing production infrastructure.

In 2004, film and television production companies received $67 million in tax breaks from Louisiana to take their projects there, including the biopic ``Ray,'' starring Jamie Foxx, and current releases ``Dukes of Hazzard'' and ``Skeleton Key.''

The state has continued with a steady flow of projects this year with three movies in production when the hurricane hit: the Warner Bros. horror film ``The Reaping,'' the comedy-drama ``The Last Time'' and the CBS movie ``Vampire Bats,'' starring Lucy Lawless.

``They were on a tremendous roll,'' said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. ``I think it definitely knocks them out of the box. I think this cleanup will take a long time, and the state's attention will be focused on rebuilding.''

The New Orleans and Louisiana film commissions could not be reached Wednesday, when their outgoing voice-mail message stated: ``Due to Hurricane Katrina, production in New Orleans has been suspended indefinitely.''

Lawless had one week remaining of a four-week shoot for ``Vampire,'' but reluctantly left New Orleans by car over the weekend. The actress loved filming there, she said Wednesday.

``There is nothing I would love more than to film near my house in Los Angeles,'' Lawless said. ``But if you have to go away, Louisiana is a wonderful place to be. It's such an evocative place, visually and culturally.''

Lawless said the hope is to resume shooting somewhere else as early as next week.

``We're trying to regroup,'' she said. ``We are very passionate about finishing and seeing the film through.''

``The Reaping'' had been filming in Baton Rouge for more than a week when cast and crew evacuated over the weekend. Warner Bros. officials hoped filming could resume somewhere next week.

The cast and crew of Element Films' ``The Last Time,'' starring Brendan Fraser and Michael Keaton, were safely evacuated from New Orleans on Sunday. The future of that production remains up in the air.

The Walt Disney Co.'s Touchstone Pictures has two movies impacted: ``Deja Vu,'' starring Denzel Washington, and ``The Guardian,'' starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher.

Disney has pushed back the start of production for ``Deja Vu'' for at least three weeks, officials said Wednesday. Shooting had been set to begin in New Orleans next month. Preproduction crews were evacuated by chartered jet over the weekend, along with a preproduction crew for ``The Guardian,'' whose production had been scheduled to begin in November. Studio officials said that film remained on schedule as of Wednesday.

Disney CEO Michael Eisner and CEO-elect Bob Iger announced that the company is making a corporate contribution of $2.5 million to the relief and rebuilding efforts for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

``The devastation in the wake of Hurricane Katrina is simply heartbreaking, and our thoughts are with those struggling in the aftermath of this disaster,'' Eisner and Iger said in a joint written statement.

Greg Hernandez, [phone]

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com