Hollywood Hullabaloo coming to a town near you

By: Ben Marxer

Posted: 8/31/05

Through all my years spent peninsuled here in the Mississippi River valley of southeast Missouri, I never thought I'd ever hear the names of someone like "Quentin Terantino" and "Viggo Mortensen" dropped into the same sentence as "Cape Girardeau." But for a few days in late December, Hollywood turns its sights on the southeast Missouri area as Cape is hit by a small invasion force of familiar film faces and production-crew lackeys for a three-day film shoot.

The film is titled "KillShot." It's based on a novel by Elmore Leonard, whose writing credits also include novel-to-screenplay titles like "Get Shorty," "Jacky Brown" and "Be Cool." The story revolves around a husband and wife on the run from a duo of killers. The novel is set primarily in the suburbs of Detroit, but crosses into several other locales during the couple's flight, including a stop in our own hometown of Cape Girardeau.

As with many of today's films, due to the cost-effective nature inherent in our northern neighbor, the movie will be filmed predominately in Canada. However, it is now confirmed that there is a three-day shooting schedule for the scenes that take place in Cape Girardeau to be shot on location.

Shooting the scenes here versus staying home in Canada will come at an increased cost. But the film's producers, after taking a tour of the area, felt that the extra cost was necessary for the ambience of the film.

Jerry Jones, the director of the Missouri Film Commission and a key player in securing Cape's involvement in the film, used the uniqueness of the landscape of Cape Girardeau as a main selling point.

"There is an extra cost involved in shooting here instead of Canada, but [the producers] felt that they couldn't duplicate the Cape Girardeau setting anywhere else. The book is based in Cape Girardeau, and there's just no way to duplicate the floodwall, the downtown area, the landscape or the river."

John Madden, director of the Academy Award winner "Shakespeare in Love," has signed onto the project as has producer Richard Gladstein ("Finding Neverland," "Pulp Fiction," "The Bourne Identity"). Hollywood bigshot Quentin Terantino is also on board as executive producer. In terms of star power, Diane Lane is signed on as the female lead, and the film will costar Mickey Rourke and N*Syncer-turned-actor Justin Timberlake. Viggo Mortensen was originally slated as the male lead, but has recently backed out. "The Punisher" star Thomas Jane has recently signed on as a replacement.

The three-day shoot in Cape is scheduled to occur sometime in late December/early January. Madden, Gladstein, Lane, and Jane will descend upon our town with a brigade of film crewmen and a few hundred grand in spending cash. According to Jones, the production costs will be in the neighborhood of $100,000 a day in food, hotels transportation, etc. This is in addition to the money spent in the days and weeks of preproduction in preparation for the shoot.

In addition to the economic benefits to the area, Jones believes that the film will create unique situations for Cape residents.

"It will open up opportunities for people looking for work as a production assistant, which is an entry-level position in filmmaking. Also, there will be work for people wanting to work as an extra. Plus, overall it will give people a chance to see first hand how a Hollywood film is made."

So keep an eye open for possible famous faces come December. That guy coming through the drive-thru who kind of looks like Mickey Rourke might actually be Mickey Rourke. And look closely in 2006 when the film is released. The guy in the background of the showdown scene who looks like your drunk uncle Lester might actually be your drunk uncle Lester. And for a few short days, Cape Girardeau might be more than a blip on the radar.

It would be good for this city to be known for something besides "Home of Rush Lim