Jeroen C
05-07-2005, 13:33
16 Blocks Location Report
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Source: Edward Douglas July 3, 2005
Apparently, legendary director Richard Donner (Superman, the Lethal Weapon movies) has found one of the blocks to be used in his latest film 16 Blocks, as the production closed off a sizable chunk of eastern Chinatown in New York City on Sunday to film scenes for his new action-thriller. The movie stars Bruce Willis as Jack Mosely, an aging police officer, ordered to transport a witness, played by Mos Def, to a courthouse which is sixteen blocks away, while outside forces try to prevent them from getting there.
The section closed off, where East Broadway and Canal Street meet, is only about ten minutes away from the New York courthouses, so there's a chance that Donner is going for realism by filming as much as possible on the actual New York streets where the duo may travel.
Usually, the area is teaming with people on a Sunday afternoon, but it seemed to have been struck by controlled chaos, as it was hard to determine who were locals and who were extras brought in for the shoot. It was also odd to see so many police in an area where usually there isn't any. Who knows if they were there to act as crowd-control or were actually in the film? (Bruce Willis and Mos Def were nowhere to be seen from the perimeter of the location.)
The most obvious change to the area, besides a number of fancy cars that probably would never drive anywhere near Chinatown, were a bunch of colorful streamers and umbrellas placed on the normally drab corner, maybe to make it look more like Chinatown. There also was an entire bus filled with people that was obviously for the shoot, since it was well off its normal route and being maneuvered into the cordoned-off block. At the time, no intensive stunts or actions scenes were being shot but the number of water trucks on hand seemed to imply that some were still to come.
In recent years, New York's Chinatown has become a popular place for film shoots and television shows like the various "Law and Order" shows. A recent film that shot a few action scenes in the area was the Chow Yun-Fat action-thriller The Corruptor.
http://us.movies1.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/movie_pix/mgm/hart_s_war/bruce_willis/hartpre2.jpg
Source: Edward Douglas July 3, 2005
Apparently, legendary director Richard Donner (Superman, the Lethal Weapon movies) has found one of the blocks to be used in his latest film 16 Blocks, as the production closed off a sizable chunk of eastern Chinatown in New York City on Sunday to film scenes for his new action-thriller. The movie stars Bruce Willis as Jack Mosely, an aging police officer, ordered to transport a witness, played by Mos Def, to a courthouse which is sixteen blocks away, while outside forces try to prevent them from getting there.
The section closed off, where East Broadway and Canal Street meet, is only about ten minutes away from the New York courthouses, so there's a chance that Donner is going for realism by filming as much as possible on the actual New York streets where the duo may travel.
Usually, the area is teaming with people on a Sunday afternoon, but it seemed to have been struck by controlled chaos, as it was hard to determine who were locals and who were extras brought in for the shoot. It was also odd to see so many police in an area where usually there isn't any. Who knows if they were there to act as crowd-control or were actually in the film? (Bruce Willis and Mos Def were nowhere to be seen from the perimeter of the location.)
The most obvious change to the area, besides a number of fancy cars that probably would never drive anywhere near Chinatown, were a bunch of colorful streamers and umbrellas placed on the normally drab corner, maybe to make it look more like Chinatown. There also was an entire bus filled with people that was obviously for the shoot, since it was well off its normal route and being maneuvered into the cordoned-off block. At the time, no intensive stunts or actions scenes were being shot but the number of water trucks on hand seemed to imply that some were still to come.
In recent years, New York's Chinatown has become a popular place for film shoots and television shows like the various "Law and Order" shows. A recent film that shot a few action scenes in the area was the Chow Yun-Fat action-thriller The Corruptor.