Hey folks, Harry here... Not much of a scoop below, more of a heads up by a long time talk backer and Wells-literate web denizen. I can't wait to see what Steven has concocted for this modern age retelling of Wells' classic. Also - word has it that we'll be getting the trailer soon, I'm betting that the trailer comes attached to LEMONY SNICKET on Dec 17th. With subject matter like this, I'm hoping Steven hatches an iconic and classic one-sheet and created trailer. Here ya go...
I live in a neighborhood in Brooklyn called Park Slope--now very yuppie, formerly working class, before that middle class, lots of brownstones and rowhouses. Five or six times a year movies and TV shows shoot around here, mostly a day or two here and a day or two there. The last one I can remember planting itself in the neighborhood for a while was "Duplex," which I know is not much of a recommendation. Steve Buscemi, John Turturro, and Jennifer Connelly all live in the neighborhood too.
Today, I was out with my two threeyearold boys and found one of the sidestreets blocked off, and I mean seriously blocked off. Not just no cars, but no pedestrians. Serious police coverage. At first, I thought it was some kind of construction project, but then I saw the sign "WoW." Then I got it--War of the Worlds. They've been shooting in Newark and Bayonne and I guess they decide to come over to Brooklyn too.
I didn't see much, but in retrospect the person with a huge telephoto lens on her camera whom I saw five minutes before I got to that intersection probably will have set photos up on the web before I finish this. There was a NYFD car with some insignia taped off. There was, I think, a car with its hood up and slammed up against a pole. There was a truck that seemed to be purposefully wetting the pavement for whatever reason.
Given the level of securityI assume this is not 2nd unit stuff. Spielberg, if not Cruise, is probably on set.
Even though I don't have many details, I mention what I saw for two reasons. The first is that the permits posted on the streets around here suggest they will be shooting up through Thursday, so curious spies may want to get out on the streets during the rest of the week.
The second reason is that, given what I've heard about the slant of Koepp's screenplay, shooting in this neighborhood is interesting. I grew up in New Jersey and know both the Ironbound section in Newark and the section of Bayonne where the New York Times has said Cruise's character lives. The neighborhood here has a very different feel to it than those two locations, much less working class. In Wells' novel, the protagonist wanders from his home to other communities and I have a feeling that this may be what's going on here. In the same way that much of Wells' novel takes place around London but not in it, I wonder if Spielberg's film will take place around Manhattan but not in it, a really great idea for a contemporary re-setting.
They're probably shooting in imaginary space, but just in case these locations are supposed to correspond to actual places, interested spies in Staten Island should keep an eye out. If Cruise's character were to wander in real space, he would have to go through Staten Island to get from his home in Bayonne to where they're shooting in Park Slope.
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Roger O Thornhill
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