The state government might not be keen on greyhounds but it is warmly welcoming one of the world's most famous rabbits.
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Deputy Premier and Arts Minister Troy Grant has confirmed American director Will Gluck's Peter Rabbit, a blend of live-action and animation, will shoot in Sydney.
Talk show and Carpool Karaoke host James Corden will voice Beatrix Potter's iconic bunny with Rose Byrne playing an unnamed live-action role.
The movie will be produced by Animal Logic, which is following up the animated hit The Lego Movie by shooting The Lego Batman Movie and The Lego Ninjago Movie.
The company's chief executive, Zareh Nalbandian, said Peter Rabbit would be a major Hollywood release that could launch a franchise.
"There are so many great characters in Beatrix Potter's books that we'll just be scratching the surface for what we can do," he said. "It's a big film that will be more than a two-year endeavour for us from go to whoa."
Grant said the movie was secured with support from the government's new $20 million Made In NSW fund.
"[It] will create jobs for 55 local actors and more than 600 crew as well as showcase our state to the world," he said.
The movie is in pre-production with live-action filming due to start in January.
Gluck, best-known for directing Easy A, Friends With Benefits and Annie, scouted locations in Australia earlier this year.
Nalbandian said the film would centre on the traditional feud between Peter and the McGregor family "and our film will be playing to that in a very contemporary and hopefully very inventive way".
The president of production administration at Columbia Pictures, Andy Davis, said NSW had everything the Hollywood studio needed for the movie.
"The region is famous for verdant beauty that will provide Peter Rabbit with a warm and impressive backdrop and we are excited to be working with the talented live-action crews in NSW and the animation wizards at Animal Logic," he said.
Beatrix Potter's series of Peter Rabbit books have reportedly sold more than 150 million copies in 35 languages.
"They've been popular for a hundred years but there's never been a feature film made of Peter Rabbit, let alone a live-action feature film presented with high-end digital technology in terms of realising the characters in a contemporary world," said Nalbandian.
Animal Logic is also developing live-action-meets-animated movies based on the characters Astro Boy and Betty Boop.
