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Hollywood action pic shot in Cape Town

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:14

Ryan Reynolds in Safe House

The Daniel Espinosa-directed Safe House, the first major Hollywood action film to be set in Cape Town, releases on 10 February.

Starring Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds, this Universal Pictures production was shot in and around Cape Town with Moonlighting Films.

Genevieve Hofmeyr, supervising producer for Safe House and owner of Moonlighting Films, says: “Cape Town transformed itself for this Hollywood action film which would not have been possible without the incredible co-operation of the public, the City of Cape Town and the many traffic officers to whom we owe huge thanks.

“The success of the production shows that Cape Town has been elevated to a city that can accommodate big Hollywood projects. The City’s co-operation will ensure that Hollywood keeps coming back for more.”

Safe House was in pre-production for five months and then shot for 14 weeks. Locations included downtown Cape Town (with numerous road closures, including Western Boulevard), Belville, Langa and Moorreesburg.

“We built a huge set right in the heart of the Langa community where we shot an extensive night sequence. Our grateful thanks go to the residents and community leaders of Langa who engaged with us wholeheartedly to make it work, as well as fulfilling positions ranging from security to extras,” says Hofmeyr.

The positive impact of the production on the City of Cape Town and the South African film industry is significant. “This was a great opportunity for us to showcase the formidable crew talent that we have here in South Africa, and to grow it exponentially thanks to the skills transfer between international and local crew,” continues Hofmeyr. “Furthermore, we are for once proudly presenting Cape Town and iconic locations such as Greenpoint Stadium and Table Mountain instead of doubling our city for somewhere else. This will no doubt result in a considerable boost in film tourism for Cape Town.”

Safe House is produced by Scott Stuber and distributed by Universal Pictures. It was written by David Guggenheim and directed by Daniel Espinosa. Executive producers are Denzel Washington, Scott Aversano, Adam Merims, Alexa Faigen, Trevor Macy and Marc D Evans.

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