Two features and a reported TV series will be adding to the ever-lengthening slate of Chicago-based productions, which is “only the tip of the iceberg of what the industry is capable of,” notes Local 476 president Brad Matthys.
First up is a week’s worth of shooting on “Death Wish,” MGM / Paramount’s remake of the 1974 hit made famous by Charles Bronson.
Bruce Willis — who hasn’t been back in Chicago since 1994’s mystery drama “Mercury Rising” — stars as Paul Kersey, a New York architect who becomes a reluctant vigilante with a vengeance when his wife is murdered and daughter raped.
The “Death Wish” crew has set up headquarters at Chicago Studio City and will shoot locations here Sept. 26 to Oct. 2.
Director is master of horror Eli Roth, (“Hostel,” Real Scares,” and “1 Minute Horror” series) whose previous feature was the 2015 Keanu Reeves psychological drama “Knock Knock.”
Coming up also this month, we hear, is a comedy series, “Shrinks,” for NBC / Universal’s Seeso, a new streaming service exclusively for original and classic comedy, with a cast reportedly from Second City. It will shoot Sept. 19 to Oct. 16 in the Sauganash and North Park neighborhoods, where its office also will be located.
UPM is Dana Scott.
More details will be provided when they become available.
Sci-fi film landing here next winter.
Looking ahead to 2017, scheduled for production here next February for 10 weeks will be “Captive State,” described as a “big scale sci-fi film.”
It was developed by producer / director Rupert Wyatt (“The Gambler,” “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”)from a screenplay he co-authored with his wife Erica Beeney. Production companies are Amblin Partners and Participant Media.
Wyatt is also EP on Fox TV’s “The Exorcist” TV series currently filming on twp stages at Cinespace.
Production companies are Amblin Partners and Participant Media. Release is scheduled for 2018.
Then, on Sept. 15 it’s goodbye to Amazon’s TV series, “The Patriot,” created and directed by Chicago’s Steven Conrad, as it wraps shooting at Chicago Studio City and heads for Prague to complete the series.
