<P> Following the publication of the 30 Days of Night comic book miniseries in 2002, studios, including DreamWorks, MGM and Senator International, bid in the $1 million range for rights to a potential vampire film based on the story . Raimi expressed interest in adapting the miniseries and was negotiating a production deal with his producing partner Robert Tapert to establish a label with Senator Entertainment, of which Senator International is the sales division . In July 2002, Senator International acquired the rights for 30 Days of Night in a seven - figure deal with Raimi and Tapert attached as producers . </P> <P> By October 2002, Niles was working on adapting 30 Days of Night for the big screen, keeping the film true to the miniseries, though fleshing out the characters more significantly in the adaptation process . In February 2003, Columbia Pictures partnered with Senator International to work on 30 Days of Night, which was developing under Senator International's newly established production company, Ghost House Pictures . Mike Richardson, the Dark Horse Comics publisher who supported the adaptation project from the beginning, after having turned down an offer to initially publish the project, was attached as executive producer . The following March, Richardson revealed that Steve Niles had turned in the initial draft for the 30 Days of Night screenplay . In March 2004, however, Columbia Pictures requested that Niles's initial screenplay to be rewritten in preparation for production . Sue Binder, the business manager of Ghost House Pictures, indicated that filming for 30 Days of Night was still at least a year away, as Ghost House planned to produce three films before the vampire thriller . The following May, Stuart Beattie, one of the writers for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, was rewriting Niles' 30 Days of Night draft for production . Niles was pleased with Beattie's faithfully rewritten script, which was submitted to the studio in October 2004 . </P> <P> In September 2005, it was announced that director David Slade had signed on to 30 Days of Night, which would be distributed by Columbia Pictures mainly in North America and Mandate Pictures in international territories . In March 2006, Slade revealed that screenwriter Brian Nelson, who wrote the screenplay for Slade's previous film Hard Candy, was writing a new draft of the 30 Days of Night script, replacing Beattie's draft . The director said that filming would begin in summer 2006 in Alaska and New Zealand . </P> <P> In June 2006, it was announced that Josh Hartnett was cast as the husband of the married couple that serves as the town's sheriff team . Some criticized the choice because the main character (Eben Olemaun, with the last name changed to Oleson for the motion picture adaption) was originally Inuit in the comics . Melissa George joined the 30 Days of Night cast as the wife of Hartnett's character . Danny Huston joined the cast as the leader of the vampires . </P>

30 days of night where was it filmed