Filming in Vancouver: Deadpool 2 wraps, Steve Carrell, Parker Posey, and more
Vancouver has had quite the year with major stars like Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson, Kate Winslet, Idris Elba, and Johnny Depp coming in and out of the city. Numerous productions, particularly TV series, are still midway through their production schedules, but a handful of the biggest film productions are in the process of leaving town.
But fear not, true believers, for there are plenty more on the way to keep things busy.
Here’s a rundown of what’s shooting here—and all the hustle-bustle explains why this city has garnered the moniker Hollywood North.
OMG, Vancouver! Deadpool is leaving town!
One of the biggest productions in the city, Deadpool 2, finally called it a wrap on October 13. The Marvel anti-superhero sequel, starring Vancouver’s own Ryan Reynolds, started back on June 26.
Reynolds thanked the city and crew for the shoot.
A post shared by Ryan Reynolds (@vancityreynolds) on Oct 14, 2017 at 5:34pm PDT
But during filming, Canada’s Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan paid Deadpool a visit, thanking him for contributing to making Vancouver one of the biggest filmmaking centres in North America.
Great to catch up with fellow Vancouverite, @VancityReynolds, on the set of @deadpoolmovie this morning. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/w5BbLYPFWd
— Harjit Sajjan (@HarjitSajjan) August 21, 2017
Thanks to productions like @deadpoolmovie, #Vancouver is the 3rd largest film and TV production centre in North America. (2/3)
— Harjit Sajjan (@HarjitSajjan) August 21, 2017
BC's world class film and TV studios support 42,000 jobs for British Columbians and investments of over $2b/year in our economy. (3/3) 📽️📺
— Harjit Sajjan (@HarjitSajjan) August 21, 2017
Meanwhile, two new castmembers for this round of Deadpool were Zazie Beetz as Domino and Josh Brolin as Cable.
A post shared by Zazie (@zaziebeetz) on Jul 31, 2017 at 7:23pm PDT
We all have that one, grumpy, heavily armed Uncle from the future. #PremiumCABLE #JoshBrolin pic.twitter.com/JV3yBIIPQH
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) August 7, 2017
DeadPool 2: Your premium #Cable provider. #DeadPool2 pic.twitter.com/LboS0iVDqZ
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) August 7, 2017
Meanwhile, returning castmembers include Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Karan Soni as Dopinder, Leslie Uggams as Blind Al, Morena Baccarin as Vanessa, and Stefan Kapicic as the voice of Colossus.
OMG, Vancouver! Deadpool is leaving town!
The film, directed by former stuntperson David Leitch (Atomic Blonde), is slated for release on June 1, 2018.
OMG, Vancouver! Deadpool is leaving town!
Another big-name feature film production that’s finishing up in the city is The Women of Marwen (Untitled Robert Zemeckis Project), which is completing its shoot on Thursday (October 19).
This fantasy drama, which started shooting on August 11, is based upon the 2010 documentary Marwencol, about a man who experienced amnesia after a brutal assault. To recover from the attack, he constructs a miniature model of a Second World War village filled with action figures and dolls and uses his imagination to help him rebuild himself.
OMG, Vancouver! Deadpool is leaving town!
The cast includes Steve Carrell (The Office), Diane Kruger (The Bridge), Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones), Janelle Monáe (Hidden Figures), Falk Hentschel (DC’s Legends of Tomorrow), Leslie Mann (The Comedian), and Eiza González (Baby Driver).
OMG, Vancouver! Deadpool is leaving town!
Meanwhile over on Vancouver Island, Elsewhere wrapped up on October 11, after starting on September 11.
This indie feature, directed by Costa Rican filmmaker Hernan Jimenez Garcia (About Us), follows a widowed man (Aden Young) whose in-laws evict him from the seaside home he built with his wife. In an attempt to get his house back, he poses as a repairman. But when he mets the new tenant, played by Parker Posey (who recently shot Lost in Space in Vancouver), he has a change of heart.
The cast includes Ken Jeong (The Hangover), Beau Bridges (The Descendants), Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook), Kathleen Munroe (Patriot), Jackie Tohn (GLOW), and Marc Bendavid (Murdoch Mysteries).
Posey had raved about Sooke, which is located about half an hour from the provincial capital of Victoria, B.C.
“It’s so dreamy and lovely,” she told CTV Vancouver Island. “Everyone’s been really nice and they seem to know how good they have it. Canada’s a real star at the moment in the culture, and in politics and everything.”
She also noted how working with B.C. film crews was much more relaxed than typical Hollywood productions.
OMG, Vancouver! Deadpool is leaving town!
In other film news, A Dog’s Way Home gets into production today (October 16) and runs until December 15.
This film adaptation of W. Bruce Cameron’s novel is helmed by Charles Martin Smith (Motive), who has directed several animal-themed films including A Dolphin’s Tale and its sequel, as well as 1997’s Air Bud.
The cast has not yet been announced for this project.
OMG, Vancouver! Deadpool is leaving town!
A new film coming to shoot in B.C., from November 15 to December 3, is Two/One will shoot in B.C.
Boyd Holbrook (Logan), who stars in The Predator which was shot in B.C. earlier this year, will star in the feature film, directed by Argentine filmmaker Juan Cabral.
In this film, Kaden (Holbrook) is a world-class skier in Whistler, B.C. who has the opportunity to reunite with his teenage sweetheart. Meanwhile on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, Khai, a corporate executive in Shanghai, discovers that the woman he fantasizes about on the internet has begun working in his office.
The twist is that the two fellows are somehow connected—when one is awake, the other is asleep, yet both see each other in their dreams. But what will happen if the two meet?
The production is based in Lions Bay, which is about halfway between West Vancouver and Squamish (on the way to Whistler), and then will later continue on to film in Shanghai.
Aside from Holbrook, the rest of the cast hasn’t been announced yet.
OMG, Vancouver! Deadpool is leaving town!
On the television side of things, although production on Season 3 of UnReal was completed in Vancouver on May 11, the broadcast of the third season, originally scheduled to premiere this past summer, has been postponed until 2018.
However, that’s not stopping the show from shooting its fourth season, which got underway on October 17, and keeps going until January 25.
The drama series depicts what goes on behind the scenes on a fictional dating reality TV show.
Shiri Appleby stars as a young producer who must do whatever it takes to manipulate dramatic footage out of emotionally vulnerable contestants that the show’s ratings-hungry executive producer (Constance Zimmer).
OMG, Vancouver! Deadpool is leaving town!
And with that, that’s the last of our news of what’s happening in Vancouver’s screen scene. Well, phew—that was quite the list to get through.
But, as always, stay tuned for more stars and shows on the way in the near future.