Busy film production season draws Hollywood stars to town – Winnipeg Free Press

A handful of movie stars and a handful of up-and-coming directors will be spending time in Winnipeg over the next few months for what's shaping up to be the busiest film production season ever.

The first film to be shot later this month is the adaptation of Stephen King's novella, The Long Marchunder the direction of Francis Lawrence (The hunger Games).

The story, written by King under the pen name Richard Bachman, tells of a dark, futuristic competition in which a large group of boys endure a forced death march until only one is left standing.

The film would have signed Cooper Hoffman (from the Paul Thomas Anderson film Licorice Pizza) and British actor David Johnson (the HBO series Industry).

For locals, Hoffman's choice of role may be particularly poignant: his father, Philip Seymour Hoffman, shot the film. Hood He was born here 20 years ago, in 2004, and won the Oscar for best actor for his role as flamboyant writer Truman Capote.

The Long March should be completed by mid-September.

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Nick Cassavetes' film Bruno Penguin and the Princess of Staten Islandwhich had a production office in Winnipeg for a few months this year, appears to be continuing, although production here appears to have ceased.

One possible reason is that the film had to take a break while filming could take place in Antarctica. (This is reportedly the first Hollywood production to be shot in that part of the world.)

According to an article by DeadlineProduction will begin in November with Shia LaBeouf in talks for a role in the film.

If the film returns here, it could bring in Oscar winner Sir Anthony Hopkins, 86, who has signed on to play talent agent Ben Windsor.

Written by Daniel Barnz and Ned Zeman, the film is based on Zemans Vanity Fair Article about Swiss photographer Bruno Zehnder, who spent the last 20 years of his life in Antarctica photographing emperor penguins. (Zehnders' obsession was so great that he legally changed his name to Bruno Penguin.)

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Another film scheduled to shoot this fall is It takes two, an action comedy written and directed by BenDavid Grabinski, co-creator (with Bryan Lee O'Malley) and showrunner of the Netflix animated series Scott Pilgrim takes flight.

The film, formerly titled Mike and Nick and Nick and Alice, is described as a buddy action comedy set in the criminal underworld.

On his Instagram account, Grabinski confirmed a Deadline story claiming that the film will star Vince Vaughn (Wedding intruders, swingers) and James Marsden (X-Men, Enchanted).

Filming is set to begin in September and continue through November. The shoot will be co-starring with acclaimed director Egor Abramenkos, a horror thriller produced by A24 Altar, which is scheduled to be filmed from mid-August to October.

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Person 2the sequel to the hit Netflix film shot locally in 2021, has not announced any new casting beyond returning stars Bob Odenkirk and Connie Nielsen as married couple Hutch and Becca Mansell.

But he announced a new director, taking over from Russian filmmaker Ilya Naishuller. Indonesian director Timo Tjahjanto is known for his thriller films The night comes for uscurrently on Netflix. His presence will likely further raise the bar for the sequels' action, especially if the casting rumors of the brilliant The Night Comes for Us/The Raid star Iko Uwais turns out to be true.

Filming is scheduled to take place from August to September, presumably circumventing the problem of colder winter temperatures that often made the first film uncomfortable for guest actors.

Coupled with the recently completed action comedy With lovewith Oscar winners Ke Huy Kwan (Everything everywhere at once) and Ariana DeBose (West Side Story), behind the scenes of Person 2 is a sign that action-focused production company 87North is active in Manitoba.

Indeed, this relationship could lead to a three-way tie-in with a sequel to the 2022 action comedy rumored to be in production. Violent night, likely meaning the return of David Harbour as the kind but unholy Santa Claus.

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