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| Main St Newmarket becomes Main St USA |
The town of
Newmarket, Ontario, Canada, doubled for a retro American town for a day as,
Regression, a psychological thriller film Directed by Writer, Director & Composer, 29 year old
Alejandro Amenabar (The Others, Tesis, Abre Los Ojos), starring
Emma Watson and
Ethan Hawke, wherein a police detective investigates activities of the paranormal and evil happening in a small rural U.S. town, was shot on location on their
Main St. Insert scary music here.
Although the storyline had been kept under wraps, a style similar to
Amenbar's previous work in the genre, like the snuff film based
Tesis, is likely to emerge.
The film will be released by Dimension Films, owned by the Weinstein Company, in 2015.
The last time a movie production was in town with
Main St. as it's set location, it was the remake of
Carrie being shot, and, like then, locals turn into patronizing wannabes whenever the circus comes to town, just happy to be a part of it and willing to lend our streets out and restrict residents while the shoot goes on. The only thing missing was the red carpet, but hey, it's all part of the small town charm Newmarket maintains, at least on its Main St, as everything else seems to be under construction - but again - the magic of movies will edit that out for us thank goodness.
The movie shoot was fairly typical with Main St. being used for part of a chase scene. In a scene like this, continuity is very important so everything from the road being wet for a rainy scene, to the people walking down the street (extras) have to be the same and are shot from different angles so must be done numerous times. This shoot had several crane cams too which was very cool to see in action hovering high above the streets, which, while observing, I also noticed a dog in a window and wondered if it was part of the flick. Ha.
The crew and
A.D.'s et al were actually quite accommodating I found, allowing me some pics and the like in between takes and posing for the odd one too. Last time out (Carrie production) I found them a bit condescending and pushy which always gets my back up a bit when I figure we're doing them a favour as locals, allowing them use of
our beautiful Main St. (not an easy task for a local to do) and suspending our use of it for their movie - which I won't likely ever see until it hits cable.
But that's the
charm of
Main St Newmarket - and a charm that's beginning to pay off as movie credits for
Main pile up with
increased business in the shops and restaurants or those just soaking up the well preserved older historical-like buildings, including one of the few remaining Main St, old town clocks which sets her apart as a town, and, I guess, for the movie locations scouts.
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| Rover restricted during movie shoot |
I likely won't rush out to see this movie
Regression or anything, as thrillers aren't my thing, but I do look forward to seeing the final shots of Main St - especially with all the development hounds salivating over it of late including the clock tower - so we may lose attracting these movie shoots soon, as well as lose the charm.
Meantime,
Newmarket has it's our own
Talent Show in town tonight featuring Canada's Idol Star finder
Farley Flex so who knows!? A star is born!?
Below a video I put together of some backstage stuff. See you in the movies!
Here's some more photos below and check out the TPE You Tube video of some behind the scenes scenes from Regression!
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| Mr. Newmarket checks in |
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| Even extras are Stars in Newmarket! |
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| Optical Delusion..Hey its a horror! |
Newmarket is in the heart of Hollywood North and convenient to G.T.A. productions with the studio located only 40 minutes from downtown Toronto and minutes from historic downtown Newmarket and Main St.. So this prime studio, house and grounds location offer more than just in-house convenience, but nearby access to time travel scenes as well within a vibrant York Region / GTA community, brimming with acting and production crew talent. 
