Will Ferrell, Zac Efron come to Atlanta for Amazon comedy ‘Judgment Day’
Will Ferrell and Zac Efron are shooting an Amazon comedy, “Judgment Day,” in metro Atlanta starting next month.
The film follows a young convict (Efron), fresh out of prison, who takes a reality TV courtroom hostage, blaming the megalomaniac TV judge (Ferrell) for a past ruling that the convict feels ruined his life.
The movie is set to be in production from April 23 through June 18, according to an email sent to crew members of the union IATSE 479.
Surprisingly, the two actors have never been in a movie together, but they are familiar with the Atlanta area.
Ferrell shot “Anchorman 2″ and the recent Amazon rom-com “You’re Cordially Invited” in the area. Efron has been in metro Atlanta starring in comedies “Dirty Grandpa” and “Neighbors 2,” both released in 2016. (Part of 2017’s “Baywatch” was shot in Savannah and Tybee Island.)
“Judgment Day’s” director, Nicholas Stoller, also directed “You’re Cordially Invited,” which co-starred Reese Witherspoon.
The home base for “Judgment Day” will be Atlanta’s Shadowbox Studios, which is where “Madden,” the biopic of legendary NFL coach and announcer John Madden starring Nicolas Cage, will also begin shooting next month.
Recent movies that have used Shadowbox include “You’re Cordially Invited,” the Netflix drama “The Piano Lesson,” featuring Samuel L. Jackson and Danielle Deadwyler, and Apple TV+’s “Fly Me to the Moon” with Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum.
After a slow winter, Georgia is seeing a pick up in TV series and movie production.
The Hulu series “Murdaugh Murders,” starring Patricia Arquette and Jason Clarke, and a Rose Byrne Peacock thriller, “The Good Daughter,” are working out of Assembly Studios in Doraville.
HBO’s “DTF St. Louis,” featuring Jason Bateman and David Harbour, is based out of Electric Owl Studios in Atlanta. And “Scream 7″ has Lionsgate Studios in Douglasville as its home base. Plus, an Owen Wilson/Matt Rife comedy, “Rolling Loud,” was shooting in town last month.