Off the Beat

Wahlberg is fast becoming a Philly boy.

Alright, Lord of the Rings fanatics. Here’s your chance to stalk Peter Jackson.

The latest movie buzz reports that shooting for Jackson’s film adaptation of The Lovely Bones, will be done on location in Norristown, PA in the suburbs of Philly. Along with its star director, the movie harnesses A-list talent like Susan Sarandon, Rachel Weisz and Ryan Gosling. Plus a full-time crew that will pump serious money into the local economy.

Sounds like a pretty sweet deal.

In fact, making movies in Pennsylvania just got a whole lot easier. This summer, the state passed legislation to deliver $75 million in tax credits to filming crews. A new production studio is slated for construction in the Philly suburbs.

Philly itself was ranked 5th in the country by Moviemaker magazine on its list of top places to make movies. You can even check out what’s shooting around town now.

To a certain measure, Philadelphia is making inroads on the silver screen. We’ve all heard of Rocky (I-VI), Philadelphia, and Witness. Classic movies, often with A-list actors, set in Philadelphia–one even here at Penn. In fact, six films shot in the city have broken the $200 million box office mark.

Yet apart from a few major films and others not worth watching (like the aging Nicholas Cage in National Treasure), Philly today isn’t much of a movie capital.

“It’s an alternative choice with a different flavor from New York,” said Penn Cinema Association chair Andrew Mangano.

To change that, city officials can reel in producers with more financial incentives. We also need to bring back local talent like Will Smith, Bill Cosby, and M. Night Shyamalan.

Shyamalan (of Sixth Sense fame) has shot most of his films around Philadelphia. Right now, in fact, he’s filming his next flick, The Happening, with Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel. It’s set–you guessed it–in the Philadelphia area. Yet Shyamalan has also stated that he may choose to shoot in locations that offer better financial incentives. .

Sure, big pictures create jobs. But we also need something to catapult Philly back into the national psyche as an American travel destination. And what better way than through another Rocky climbing the art museum steps, another Detective John Book trawling for clues around 30th Street Station, and another director taking us on a cinematic joyride through the streets of Philadelphia?

Off the Beat appears on Friday.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 14th, 2007 at 1:46 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.