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Detroit's surreal side is on full display these days in the northwest corner of downtown.
Workers are constructing a movie set for Paramount Pictures' "Transformers 4" on a mostly vacant piece of land that looks like a real construction site, until you look closely and see tile roofs that resemble the old-fashioned roofs of Asia and what seems like brick walls that are really some sort of authentic-looking faux brick.
The set is designed to resemble a block in Hong Kong for the film, which is directed by Michael Bay, produced by Steven Spielberg and features a cast that includes Mark Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz, Stanley Tucci, Kelsey Grammer, Li Bingbing, Sophia Myles, and Jack Reynor.
The parcel sits between Washington Boulevard and Bagley south of Grand Circus Park, just east of the People Mover's elevated track, the site of the old Statler Hotel. Dozens of shipping containers are stacked at the north end.
There are girders that have risen to three stories and stand next to a real Detroit building, a four-story structure that is abandoned, singed from fire and decorated by nature with substantial trees growing out of its mid section.
And once the faux block from Hong Kong is finished, much of it will be destroyed in a typical Transformers' explosion, according to local merchants who have talked to officials from the production company. They say the Michigan Theatre Building and perhaps other buildings will be decorated in bamboo for the shooting. They will not be destroyed.
Filming now is scheduled to take place in the first week in August. Filming is already underway in Texas and China and was reportedly to take place about 60 miles southwest of Detroit, near Adrian.
According to various plot summaries, "Transformers 4" will be a darker sequel to "Transformers Dark of the Moon," and will take place four years after that film. It is set in China.
In March, the Michigan Film Office said the state approved a $20 million incentive for "Transformers 4" and said shooting would take place in the state.
The first "Transformers" was partially shot in Detroit and used the city as a backdrop. "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" was shot in several locations in metro Detroit, including the old Packard Plant, Capitol Park and the Fisher Building. The DTE Conners Creek Facility on the East Side of Detroit doubled as Chernobyl.The first film, "Transformers," was released in 2007, the second, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," in 2009, and the third, "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" in 2011.
"Transformers 4" is scheduled to be released next summer.
According to CinemaBlend.com:
"Transformers is currently filming in China, in part because they’ve run out of things to destroy in America, and in larger part because there’s a lot of money to be made there. What’s surprising is that not only are they shooting there, apparently the movie’s going to be sort of about China too. And you thought it was about watching giant robots punch each other.
"The word from ChineseFilms.cn is that the movie is so Chinese-centric that it’s almost like the country is a character in the film. Some of this is likely due to the agreement Paramount had to make with the Chinese government in order to be able to shoot there. That agreement stipulates that the film must feature a certain number of Chinese actors and actresses and the studio has already cast Li Bingbing in a significant role while also running a sort of reality show competition in the country to find other Chinese actors."
