The Donald Trump-Mike Pence campaign isn't planning a stop on the Marietta Square today, so what's with all the balloons and signs?
Credit: Jennifer Brett
Credit: Jennifer Brett
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The "campaign stop" is actually a movie set. The Marietta Square is a favorite spot for filming. "Selma," "Dumb and Dumber 2," "Dirty Grandpa," "The Watch," "Bessie" and "The Watsons Go To Birmingham" are a few of the projects that have set up shop there in recent years. Today's is "The Leisure Seeker," with Donald Sutherland (instead of Donald Trump!) and Helen Mirren. Deadline reports it's "a road movie about a retired couple who embark on an adventure in a Winnebago."
Marietta Mayor Thunder Tumlin said the scene filming today is set somewhere in the northeast, either in Pennsylvania or Massachusetts. He's been watching the activity like many area residents who have wandered over to check things out.
"People of all ages love movie stars," he said. "When you have movie star sightings, it’s wonderful. I think it just makes it kind of like you’re having a party."
The production will roll out later today. Only one roadway, North Park from the Strand Theatre to Shilling's, is closed, and traffic was moving smoothly when we checked things out earlier today.
"The excitement it brings is wonderful," Tumlin said. Ever the statesman, Tumlin noted the movie's political aspect will be nonpartisan. After today's Trump scene, he said, "they’re also going to go to a Hillary one, somewhere else."
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