From Vancouver to Toronto, productions are still on the go bringing in stars like Jason Mamoa and Halle Berry to Canada throughout 2021.
By, Alya Stationwala
With many productions shutting down across the U.S., Canada continues COVID precautionary productions on multiple feature films across the country. Masked-up and temperature checks on-site, Hollywood North is up and running for 2021 with film productions lined up throughout the year.
Canadians are pushing the film industry forward in a time where most productions are being halted around the world. Major American productions have made the decisions to move up North to keep on schedule, and so we get the benefit of having stars like Jason Momoa and Jude Law wander our streets. Here is a list of some of the biggest productions filming in Canada this coming year:
Toronto
V/H/S 94
Kevin (Patrick Lawrie) practicing his amateur videography in the short film Vicious Circles, a part of the horror anthology V/H/S: Viral (2014). (Photo Courtesy: Magnet Releasing)
A revamp of V/H/S, the famous horror franchise that hasn’t seen an update since 2014, V/H/S 94 is a new take on the anthology series as the first film to present a fluid narrative that connects each section. Where the other V/H/S films were a compilation of short films, directors such as Simon Barrett (You’re Next, Blair Witch) and Timo Tjahjanto (May the Devil Take You, The Night Comes for Us) are set to create their own segments of a larger overarching story. The movie is currently filming and set to wrap in Toronto in early February 2021.
Slumberland
Jason Momoa visited a local Toronto record store Cosmos Records on Queen Street West back in October 2020 while filming.
Based on the American-Japanese animated film Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, this is one of two projects Jason Momoa is staying in Toronto for, the other one being the TV show See. The film is a Netflix live-action adaptation titled Slumberland, this update to the original animation will follow the main character Nema as he travels to a dreamland with a human/monster hybrid creature, played by Momoa. The film has been spotted filming in places like the Distillery District and is set to resume production in Toronto between February and April 2021.
1UP
Ruby Rose is filming the first Buzzfeed Studios feature film 1UP alongside Paris Berelc in Toronto. It is an esports comedy about a gamer who quits her college team because of sexism with the goal of creating an all-female competitive team. The production team was caught filming in the GTA in mid-December and is set to continue until late January 2021. The Buzzfeed Studios movie is described as a gaming universe version of Pitch Perfect and Toronto is happy to be the setting for this debut.
Vancouver
Peter & Wendy
Peter Pan visiting Wendy in London in the original Disney animated film from 1953. (Photo Courtesy: Walt Disney Studios)
Under the working title Bonfire, a new Disney+ Peter Pan film is in the works in Vancouver starring Jude Law as Captain Hook and Yara Shahidi as Tinker Bell. Originally set to film from April to August 2020, the production was pushed back due COVID-19 and is now set to resume March 8, 2021. This film is one of the few live-action adaptations Disney has been working on producing throughout the next couple of years based on the initial Peter Pan animation from 1953.
Fresh
Director Mimi Cave is making her directorial debut with Fresh, a social thriller described as being about “the fear that women face every day.” While the production is a little bit of a mystery, it was in pre-production as of November 2020 and is set to start filming in Vancouver sometime this year. Starring Sebastian Stan, keep an eye out for him and the rest of the cast of this upcoming movie in the streets of B.C. in 2021.
The Adam Project
A sneak peek of the new Netflix film The Adam Project revealed on Twitter on November 29, 2020. (Photo Courtesy: @vancityreynolds on Twitter)
Ryan Reynolds brings his next Netflix film to Vancouver where they are set to film in 2021. Starring Zoe Saldana, Mark Ruffalo and more, the movie tells the story of a man who has to get the help of his 13-year-old self to carry out a secret mission in this time travel, sci-fi flick. The production has been spotted around the city, most recently at the Jack Poole Plaza near the Vancouver Convention Centre.
Montreal
Moonfall
Halle Berry gave a shout-out to the “Best Wings in Montreal” at Cunninghams Pub while filming Moonfall on December 24, 2020.
The movie ISNabout a group of people who must save the world when the Moon falls out of orbit, Moonfall started production in Quebec in October 2020 after originally being scheduled for a spring 2020 start. It will be continuing production into early 2021 with Halle Berry, Josh Gad and Patrick Wilson as some of the many stars coming to Montreal for a sci-fi epic.
Misanthrope
Shailene Woodley comes to Montreal for the serial killer thriller Misanthrope. Despite the strict lockdown rules in Quebec, Premier François Legault announced productions could continue in the province, and so the Damián Szifron film is set to continue filming at the end of January 2021. Misanthrope tells the story of a troubled cop who teams up with the FBI to track down a murderer. The movie is set to continue production well into the Canadian winter.
Home Alone
Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) trying aftershave for the first time in an iconic scene from the first Home Alone film from 1990. (Photo Courtesy: 20th Century Fox)
Initially announced in 2019, a Home Alone reboot started filming in Montreal in late 2020 once COVID restrictions were lifted after the first wave in Quebec. The Disney+ production is supposed to continue into 2021 with a reported cameo appearance of the original Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) supposedly in the film. The movie should wrap-up filming within late January or February 2021, so long as precautionary measures are taken and lockdown regulations give the “all-clear” to the production.