FACTBOX: Recent movies filmed outside California

(Reuters) - California has seen movie and television production slowly abandon Hollywood over the past decade, moving to Canada and other U.S. states that have lured filmmakers with tax breaks and financial incentives.

Now California is offering its own financial incentives in a bid to bring filmmaking back to Hollywood -- a move championed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, himself a former movie star.

Here are some of the recent films that have been shot outside of California:

"TERMINATOR SALVATION"

The fourth installment in the action-adventure franchise that featured Schwarzenegger in his signature role was shot in New Mexico last year. It was released in May.

Producers, who initially considered filming "Terminator Salvation" in Budapest, took advantage of New Mexico's 25 percent tax rebate on their production, which reportedly had a budget of $200 million.

"TWILIGHT"

One of the top-grossing releases of 2008, "Twilight" is based on the novel of the same name about a teenage girl who falls in love with a vampire at her small-town high school.

Though in the book Bella Swan lives in Forks, Washington, the movie was mostly shot in Oregon, including scenes at a pair of Portland area high schools. Its sequel, "New Moon," is being filmed in Vancouver for release in November.

"PUBLIC ENEMIES"

Johnny Depp stars as the infamous American bank robber John Dillinger in "Public Enemies," which conducted its principal photography in Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana and touched off a local controversy over tax credits to film studios.

The flap centered on Wisconsin's $4.6 million reimbursement to NBC Universal -- which amounted to most of the estimated $5 million it spent on "Public Enemies" in the state, and prompted officials there to ask for a review of the incentive program.

"WATCHMEN"

Based on a comic book series of the same name set for the most part in New York City, "Watchmen" was shot in Vancouver in 2007 for a budget of around $120 million.

Filmmakers built a built a back lot to stand in for the mean streets of New York City. Vancouver sound stages were used for scenes taking place on Mars and in Antarctica.

"THE DARK KNIGHT"

The fourth-highest-grossing film of all time, starring Christian Bale as Batman and Heath Ledger as The Joker, takes place in Gotham City -- a comic book metropolis inspired at least in part by New York City.

But "Dark Knight" conducted most of its principal photography in Chicago, prompting a local business journal to predict that the production would create hundreds of jobs and generate some $45 million for the city's economy.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb, Editing by Mary Milliken)