It’s sequel season here in moviemaking Atlanta.
“Dumb and Dumber To,” the intentionally ungrammatically worded sequel to the 1994 comedy “Dumb and Dumber,” recently wrapped at the Gwinnett Performing Arts Center. The project rented the facility for nine days and shot for two, putting 400 extras to work and using the additional days for pre- and post-production work.
"The movie crew was great to work with," said center manager Selina Branstetter. "We were honored to have such a high-caliber event filmed in our theater."
Filmmakers Peter and Bobby Farrelly posed for a nice photo with center staff members, and also posted a photo of Team D&D II with Google honcho Eric Schmidt on their Twitter feed.
The Jim Carrey-Jeff Daniels comedy also has filmed in Duluth, Stone Mountain, Marietta, Brookhaven, Cabbagetown and Grantville. Things seem to be going well.
“Happy to report that after 5 weeks of shooting, all is still funny on #DumbTo,” Daniels posted recently on his Twitter feed, using the movie’s preferred hashtag.
Meanwhile "Mockingjay Part 1," which will be the third in the "Hunger Games" series, continues filming amid very tight security. The project starring Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence did a bit of filming in downtown Atlanta this week, with a much larger scene happening in Griffin. Other locations so far have included Sweetwater Creek State Park in Lithia Springs, a corn field in Rockmart and a rural stretch in Dawsonville. We're told security is so tight that extras and crew members who show up for work get wanded upon arrival, to ensure nobody tries to sneak in a camera or cellphone that could be used to take photos. Wow.
"Fast & Furious 7," starring Vin Diesel and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, plans a much longer engagement in downtown Atlanta through nearly the end of the month. Setup work was scheduled to begin on Wednesday, and numerous street and lane closures are anticipated on a rotating basis through Nov. 27, according to a notice sent to affected residents and businesses. Part of the filming will involve a helicopter, so if you live or work downtown, you may soon sense a hovering presence.
The good news: The filming is scheduled to take place overnight. The bad: You can be sure traffic will be impacted. We have the entire list of anticipated closures posted for you online at www.accessatlanta.com/weblogs/buzz/2013/nov/04/upcoming-filming-locations-fast-furious-7/.
