A new movie starring Hollywood heavyweights Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Pattinson and LaKeith Stanfield began filming in Calgary Monday.
According to ACTRA, the film – called Die, My Love – will be in production in the city and the surrounding area until Oct. 8.
Francisca Pèrez Brito snapped a selfie with Pattinson (Twilight, The Batman) at the Calgary International Airport on Aug. 8.
“He was very kind, although the interaction was quick,” Brito tells CTV News.
“At first, because he had a mask, I was like, ‘Is that Robert Pattinson or not?’ But yes, for sure it was.”
IMDB lists Die, My Love as a comedy, drama, horror and thriller.
The movie tells the story of a mother struggling to maintain her sanity as she battles psychosis while living in a remote and forgotten rural area.
Die, My Love isn’t the only production filming in Calgary and the surrounding area; My Life with the Walter Boys season two is filming until Nov. 15, according to ACTRA.
The Netflix series filmed at the Galaxie Diner in the beltline two weeks ago.
“This crew in particular was super nice, very conscientious. They kind of dismantled the place and put it back together almost exactly like they found it,” owner Brad Myhre said.
“It was awesome, it’s always a lot of fun.”
The diner has been a popular place for productions in the past.
The first film the diner was involved in was Snow Day starring Chevy Chase, which came out in 2000.
“It was pretty cool. They rented the diner for 10 days that time,” Myhre said.
Myhre was also recently approached by Netflix Korea to film at the diner, though nothing is set in stone.
“I’m hoping it keeps rolling, it’s a lot of fun it’s a good industry to be involved with.”
Filming also wraps up later this week in Calgary for a film from the Philippines, Hello, Love, Again, which is slated to be released in November.
It’s a sequel to Hello, Love, Goodbye, which was widely popular among the Filipino community and ends with a main character immigrating to Canada.
“Doing a little research into where Filipinos immigrate in Canada, Calgary was one of the most concentrated and one of the larger Filipino communities of immigrants in Canada,” said Priscilla Galvez, the Canadian line producer on the project.
“For the creative team, it was important to capture the authenticity of the experience, but also just to be able to embrace the reality.”
There are also many productions on tap to close out 2024 including a miniseries about JonBenét Ramsey, which begins production in Calgary on Sept. 4.
The Order, a crime thriller featuring Jude Law, also filmed partly in Calgary and the surrounding area, is set to debut in December.
“There’s actually a lot of production here right now,” said Luke Azevedo, Calgary film commissioner and vice president and creative industries and operations at Calgary Economic Development.
“We’ve been lucky and privileged to continue to grow the industry across the creative sector with film and television being an anchor for it.
“It’s hundreds of millions of dollars. Our biggest year in the city in 2022 was $520 million in production in the city, that is directly spent in and around Calgary. Huge impact.”
He says there was a drop in productions – not just in Calgary but globally – due to the Writers Guilde of America strike in 2023, but says productions are rebounding for 2024.
“The projects are coming out here at this point and continue to come out of here, some are in their second or third or 18th year, and some are in their first year
“We’re a subject of conversation now in Los Angeles and other points in the world for positive things, so we want to continue that momentum.”
More than doubled
A statement sent to CTV News from Tanya Fir, Alberta’s minister of arts, culture and status of women, says film and television productions in the province have more than doubled since 2020.
“Every $1 in film and television tax credit is expected to generate over $4 back into Alberta’s economy,” reads the statement.
“Productions participating in the Film and Television Tax Credit program are expected to spend more than $1.28 billion in the province across a range of industries, generating an estimated $747 million back into the province and supporting more than 12,800 jobs.”
The tax credit was launched back in 2020. Since then, Fir says 182 productions have participated in the program, including Fargo season five.
