Need for Speed is getting a movie, and it’s planned to start filming next week in Georgia.
If your daily commute involves the 13th Street bridge spanning the Chattahoochee River, you might want to consider an alternate route next week. The Georgia bridge will be closed off for the filming of a scene for the Need for Speed movie.
No, this isn’t a followup or spin-off to Tom Cruise’s Top Gun film, even though that’s likely where the phrase came from. The Need for Speed movie is based on EA’s popular racing video game series.
The scene being filmed next week will involve a high-end sports car going off the bridge into the river, a stunt that Vin Diesel has done at least twice in his films xXx and Fast Five . Of course the river was dry in xXx , but it was still a river bed.
The bridge will be closed off for four days, and while that may seem excessive, remember that the South tends to have rather turbulent weather, and scenes are rarely shot right the first time. That’s how filming is in the movie industry.
Patrick Mignano of NFS Productions/Dreamworks Studios says, “When you see the film, it’s going to be a car crash. You’ll see the car spin and flip over the rails. But what it takes to get those 15-20 seconds of film takes four days because everything’s got to be controlled. Everything has to be precise.”
It’s just a fact that when you’re dealing with stunts involving multi-ton vehicles, people can get badly injured if it isn’t controlled.
According to the Georgia Department of Economic Development , “Since 1972, more than 700 feature films, TV movies, TV series, single episodes and pilots have been produced in Georgia, generating over $7 billion dollars in economic impact.”
The plot of the Need for Speed movie will involve a street racer taking part in a cross-country race to get revenge on an ex-business partner. The film will feature Michael Keaton, Aaron Paul and Dominic Cooper.
Will the filming of the Need for Speed movie affect you as it films in Georgia next week? Are you excited to see it when it comes out in theaters?