Ford-Neeson film begins today at shipyard

April 5th, 2001
The Daily Herald
by Bill Power

Smiling extras could be the biggest problem facing the makers of K-19: The Widowmaker as production of the big-budget film swings into high gear on the Halifax waterfront today.

Two hundred local people, many of them regular employees of the Halifax Shipyards as well as some young students, will work as extras over the next five days.  The extras have lots to smile about, publicist Stanley Brossette said Wednesday, hours after most of the cast and crew arrived.

"Our two big names, Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson, will be here as they are required in the segments being filmed over the next few days." Many of the extras were chosen from more than 1,000 people who responded to a recent casting call.

Besides hobnobbing with the stars, they have the chance to be part of a Hollywood-style film production. "This is a complex film, and not an inexpensive production," said Mr. Brossette. The budget for the film has not been released, but most industry reports have pegged it at between $100-million and $200-million Cdn.

Some of the extras were enlisted from local high schools and will participate in morning and afternoon shoots at the Halifax Shipyards, where security is tight. The young people portray some of the crewmen of the Russian submarine that is central to the plot. On Wednesday, many were being fitted for their brief film roles at a temporary staging area at 3575 Kempt Rd. As usual, the whereabouts of the film's stars is a closely-guarded secret.

However, the publicist said both Mr. Ford and Mr. Neeson are known "explorers" when visiting new locations. He said they could pop up just about anywhere over the next few days, before the cast and crew head back to Toronto to work on other parts of the movie. They'll return to Halifax in mid-May when shooting begins offshore.

All footage shot in Halifax - including that filmed outside Halifax Harbour in May - is expected to add up to about 10 minutes on the big screen.

Fair Use Notice

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Harrison Ford Web is making such material available in an effort to promote research. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.