Montreal Welcomes Hollywood Back: A Look at the Latest American Film Productions in the City

2024-04-24 23:00:00

With the good weather back, foreign filmmaking is taking over the city again. After a slowdown for several months last year due to strikes in Hollywood, American production cameras are operating at full capacity in Montreal and Quebec this spring.

“It’s a very good start to the year,” declares MELS Studios president Patrick Jutras.

“We are currently at full capacity and have no more square feet to rent in our studios.”

Currently, two major Hollywood productions – the series The Last Frontier and the action movie May day – which is installed in MELS Studios and another – Kid Karate – has taken up residence at Grandé Studio. Two more American series will come to town by the beginning of the summer. Here’s what we know about each of these productions.

Kid Karate

Photo taken from the X account of Sony Pictures France

Keep an eye out, you might come across martial arts legend Jackie Chan on the streets of Montreal this spring. The 70-year-old actor is part of the cast of the next film in the saga Kid Karate, is currently filming in the city. This sixth feature film in the franchise will also bring back to the screen Ralph Macchio in the shoes of Daniel LaRusso, the hero of the first Kid Karatewas released in 1984.

He is the young actor Ben Wang (Chinese born in America) inherited the film’s lead role, along with Joshua Jackson, Ming-Na Wen and Sadie Stanley. Filming this new Kid Karate takes place mainly in Studios Grandé, in Pointe-Saint-Charles, and in various areas of the city (including Old Montreal), until mid-summer.

May day

Getty Images via AFP

Ryan Reynolds is the main star of this action film, which is being filmed in and around Montreal from mid-March – and until the beginning of June. The Canadian actor has been seen several times in the city in recent weeks, including at the funeral of former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, at the Notre-Dame Basilica, last month.

British actor Kenneth Branagh is also part of the cast of this film produced by Skydance Studios and Apple Original Films and directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley (Dungeons and Dragons: Honor of Thieves).

The Last Frontier

Photos from archives, AFP

Filmed for this Apple TV+ series starring Australian actor Jason Clarke (Oppenheimer), Simon Kessell (Yellow jackets) et Dominic Cooper (Oh mom) started in Montreal last February and will continue until August.

During his stay in Quebec, the staff of the Conradh na Gaeilge was successful The Last Frontier Will travel to several locations throughout the province. Images from the series of ten episodes have already been filmed in Mirabel and Deux-Montagnes. Since the beginning of April, production has been set up in the forest of Montmorency, inside the Laurentides wildlife reserve, to film scenes that will take place in Alaska during the winter.

Two series are expected this summer

Photo taken from The Cinemaholic’s X account

Just a few months ago, the summer looked relatively quiet for American filming in Montreal. However, the improvement in tax credits offered to foreign productions announced last month in Girard’s budget already appears to be paying off. According to our knowledge, the series Obsession, produced by Amazon’s Prime Video platform, will take up residence in Montreal this summer. The fourth season of the series Ghosts also filmed in the city from July.