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Sudbury abuzz with filming of Resident Evil reboot

Nickel City becomes Raccoon City for big budget film

Chances are you’ve spotted some filming taking place around Sudbury over the weekend.

Parts of Sudbury are being transformed into Raccoon City, the fictional city that is the setting of the popular survival horror franchise Resident Evil

Production crews have been busy transforming various locations downtown for the reboot, including the underpass on College Street and the construction of a visual effects set located in the parking lot behind The Ledo Hotel on Van Horne.

Writer-director Johannes Roberts told Deadline.com that the latest in the Resident Evil franchise is an official origin story adaptation with faithful ties to Capcom’s classic survival horror games.

The story is set in 1998 in Raccoon City, which, if you’re familiar with the series, is the small industrialized city that was destroyed during the t-Virus outbreak.

Rob Riselli is the reporting supervisor at Cultural Industries Ontario North (CION).

“It’s supposed to take place in that mining, working-class industry, and Sudbury’s esthetic is part of that,” Riselli told Sudbury.com. “They want that industrial look, and obviously we have quite a number of those facades around town.”

Greater Sudbury will be the primary location for the Resident Evil reboot. Filming began in Sudbury on Oct. 15 and is expected to continue until mid-December.

The film’s cast includes: Kaya Scoderlario (Maze Runner) as Claire Redfield, Hannah John-Kamen (Ant-Man and the Wasp) as Jill Valentine, Robbie Amell (Upload) as Chris Redfield, Tom Hopper (The Umbrella Academy) as Albert Wesker, Avan Jogia (Zombieland: Double Tap) as Leon S. Kennedy and Neal McDonough (Yellowstone) as William Birkin.

Aside from the scenes being shot downtown, film crews have also been spotted at the old St. Joseph’s Hospital.

Although the dilapidated building seems like an obvious choice for the Resident Evil franchise, it’s actually the location for another film being partially shot in Sudbury titled Fixation. 

Fixation is an independent feature directed by Mercedes Bryce Morgan. It is a female-driven psychological thriller starring Maddie Hasson and Genesis Rodriguez.

According to Variety.com, Dora (Hasson) is at the center of an unusual murder trial. As the film progresses, she is subjected to a psychiatric evaluation, and as the tests become more personal — and frightening — she begins to question the true motives of her doctor and is forced to live through the recreations of her past. 


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Heather Green-Oliver

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