March is a fickle time of year as the transition between winter and spring. Its also gearing up season for movie production which peaks throughout spring and summer. Here’s 7 big movies filming around town this month.
Game Over, Man
Starring: Adam Devine, Anders Holm, Blake Anderson
Director: Kyle Newacheck
Writer: Anders Holm
Genre: Action-Comedy
Schedule: Mar 30 – May 12, 2017 (CRBC)
Release date: TBD
Writing and producing partners Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are backing Game Over, Man, the first film that will star all the creators of Workaholics on screen at once. That group, dubbed Mail Order Comedy from their YouTube sketch comedy days, have become a staple on Comedy Central and for their individual comedy movie roles.
Hard Powder
Starring: Liam Neeson
Director: Hans Petter Moland
Writer: Frank Baldwin
Genre: wilderness; action-revenge-thriller
Schedule: Mar 20 – May 24, 2017 (CRBC)
Release date: TBD
Liam Neeson bundles up for another wildnerness flick (see The Grey) for a revenge thriller set in the Rocky Mountains. He plays a snowplow driver in Colorado whose son is killed by a drug lord – adapted from Norweigian film In Order of Disappearance. Filming takes place around Banff, Alberta and parts of British Columbia. Will it compare to The Revenant which was also partially shot locally?
Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet
Starring: Cameron Monaghan, Peyton List
Director: Robin Hays
Writer: Elisha Matic, Josh Close
Genre: Teen; coming-of-age
Schedule: From Mar 23, 2017 (What’s Filming?)
Release date: TBD
The adapted screenplay for Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet is based on the young adult novel by Joanne Proulx. It’s about a boy who is labelled as freak for having premonitions including seeing his new best friend die – which comes true. To make it a true teen drama, he falls for his dead friend’s girl too.
Ghosts of War
Starring: Brenton Thwaites
Director: Eric Bress
Writer: Eric Bress
Genre: Action-scifi; supernatural psychological thriller
Schedule: From March 2017 (What’s Filming?)
Release date: TBD
The plot centers around 5 U.S soldiers who come up against supernatural enemies on the battlefield near the end of WWII.
Light of My Life
Starring: Casey Affleck
Director: Casey Affleck
Writer: Casey Affleck
Genre: Survival-Drama
Schedule: Feb 8 – Mar 30/17 (CRBC)
Release date: 2018 TBD
Casey Affleck is writing, directing and starring in a post-pandemic indie drama about a father and daughter trapped and being hunted in the woods. Light of My Life will be Afflex’s feature directorial debut as he last directed a faux-documentary about ex-brother-in-law Joaquin Phoenix’s “rap Career”. In 2016 he separated from Summer Phoenix whom he has 2 children with. Affleck is also the brother of Ben Affleck who debut-directed him in Gone Baby Gone.
Production is expected to move to Vancouver Island after wrapping up in Osoyoos, where The Humanity Bureau starring Nicolas Cage was filming late last year.
Meditation Park
Starring: Sandra Oh, Jessica Paré, Tzi Ma, Don McKellar, Pei-Pei Cheng
Director: Mina Shum
Writer: Mina Shum
Genre: Canadian Drama
Schedule: Feb 27 – Mar 23/17 (What’sFilming)
Release date: Sept 9/18 (Canada)
Hong Kong-born and Vancouver-bred writer & director Mina Shum is once again teaming up with Canadian actress Sandra Oh (Grey’s Anatomy) for the Canadian drama Meditation Park. It also stars Montreal’s Jessica Paré (Mad Men) and Tzi Ma (Rush Hour). The fiction film is centered around East Vancouver.
The Predator
Starring: Olivia Munn, Jacob Tremblay, Boyd Holbrook, Keegan-Michael Key, Trevante Rhodes, Sterling K. Brown
Director: Shane Black
Writer: Shane Black, Fred Dekker
Genre: Sci-fi/Horror
Schedule: Sept 30/16 – May 15/17 (CRBC)
Release date: Feb 9/18 (USA)
30 years later and the sixth film in the Predator series is underway. The sequel-reboot will acknowledge events from the first two films according to Director Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Iron Man 3). Local child actor Jacob Tremblay (Room) from Langley has signed onto The Predator. Last year he filmed Wonder in Vancouver with Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson playing his parents.
Filming schedules subject to change
By Amar Mirchandani @amarmirch