Red Dawn takes over Michigan Park

Chris Hemsworth

Isabel Lucas

By Alan Miller – LansingStateJournal.com

Local filming of scenes for the action-thriller film “Red Dawn” began in Grand Ledge on Monday, Nov. 16 and continued for four days.

Other scenes are being filmed in Detroit, Harper Woods, Royal Oak, Milford and Highland Township.

Producer Tripp Vinson said the scenery is what brought him to Grand Ledge.

“This location works really well for the movie. There are a lot of story points where we need a real wooded scenic location, and we found it here,” he said.

“I think the thing that has worked out the best for us is the ability to capture a really big movie,” Vinson said.

“What I mean by that is the locations that we found are very cinematic, so it adds a lot of scope to the movie. I think people are going to be surprised at how big this movie looks.”

Vinson said the choice of a Michigan location was not primarily driven by the state’s tax credit for movie makers, but that it helped.

“The primary reason we come to any location is that it is best for the movie creatively,” he said.

Adrianne Palicki

“The fact that there is such an aggressive incentive here is an added bonus, but I absolutely would not categorize it as the primary reason why we are here.”

The film tells the story of a group of teenagers who form an insurgency to defend their town when it is attacked by Chinese and Russian soldiers.

It is described as a “re-boot” of a 1984 film by the same name starring Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen.

This version will star Chris Hemsworth, previously seen in “Star Trek,” Josh Peck, previously seen in “The Wackness” and Adrianne Palicki, of “Friday Night Lights.”

The new film is scheduled for release in November, 2010.

Dan Bradley is directing the movie for Contrafilm Productions, and it is expected to be distributed by MGM.

 

Cast
  Chris Hemsworth … Jed Eckert
  Jeffrey Dean Morgan … Col. Andy Tanner
  Isabel Lucas … Erica
  Adrianne Palicki … Toni
  Josh Hutcherson … Robert
  Josh Peck … Matt Eckert
  Brett Cullen … Tom Eckert
  Will Yun Lee … Captain Lo

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