'Superman' filming forces traffic reroute near Serena
Share 07/27/2011, 7:37 pm
Steve Stout and Melissa Garzanelli, newsroom@mywebtimes.com, 815-433-2000
For three days, a bridge in La Salle County will be closed while Hollywood works its magic.
A scene from the upcoming "Superman: Man of Steel" movie, some of which is being shot in Plano, will be filmed on the U.S. 52 bridge over the Fox River east of Serena.
Illinois Department of Transportation media spokesman Josh Kauffman said the Warner Brothers production company was given permission and permits to close the bridge and adjacent highway sections for filming a rumored traffic accident scene on the span. Kauffman said the route will be reopened by Saturday.
The big budget production is expected to be a boon for the local economy in the Plano area, which will be portrayed as Clark Kent's hometown of Smallville. Exterior sets have been built throughout the city and thousands have applied in the hopes of being hired as extras for the filming.
But not everyone is excited about movie makers invading the area.
Bill Bickett, owner of Ayers Landing Canoe Rental in Wedron, was told the river around the bridge would be closed Thursday while shooting occurred. Ayers offers a 12-mile and six-mile trip and only the shorter trip will be offered Thursday.
Bickett said he's already lost customers.
"I've had to turn away a lot of people who won't go on the six-mile trip," he said. "There's nothing I can do about it."
He's also worried about overnight campers expected to canoe past the bridge Friday. If the production schedule changes, he said, he'll have no way to get them off the river. He was told Friday would be a cleanup day from the shoot but at least half the river would be open.
"This has got my customers upset," he said. "That's the bottom line."
A call to C&M Canoe Rental in Wedron, which also offers canoe trips on the Fox River, was not returned by press time.
Jan Richmond, owner of the Serena Cafe, said the closing of the U.S. 52 bridge has brought the traffic that normally streams by her business to a halt.
"We got here and it was quiet, dead," she said late Wednesday morning.
Normally, Richmond sees steady traffic and the truck drivers will stop in for carryouts.
Instead, detours are directing traffic away from Serena. Richmond is bothered that while the film company is compensating businesses in Plano for the loss of revenue, she was not contacted.
"They're compensating everybody else," she said. "They cut off my main highway."
Still, she admits she and a few regulars who live nearby did make the trek down as far as they could to see the filming.
"It is fun to have them do a movie here," she said.
Deputies from the La Salle County Sheriff's Office were seen Wednesday near the highway closing providing security and crowd control. Phone inquires as to the deputies' exact duties and possible compensation were not returned by Sheriff Tom Templeton.
The reboot, "Superman: Man of Steel," soars into theaters nationwide June 14, 2013. It will star British actor Henry Cavill as Superman, Diane Lane as Martha "Ma" Kent, Kevin Costner as Jonathan "Pa" Kent, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Michael Shannon as Zod and Russell Crowe as Jor-El.
The movie's director is Zack Snyder, best known for his films "300" and "Watchmen."
Source: mywebtimes.com, HenryCavilluFB/Twitter.
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