The Road News (Mostly) and Rumors (Not-so-much)

About the Shooting of Cormac McCarthy's The Road

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The Road was primarily filmed in Western Pennsylvania from late February until late April 2008. The production is due to resume near Mt. Saint Helens (and, if you've read the book and ever been there, you'll know how completely appropriate that is) in early May. The Fulton County News reports that the scenes with Mother (Charlize Theron) will be filmed in Seattle (actually, Oregon). For months, we've heard that production will include a few days' shoot in coastal Louisiana (the beach scenes at the end of the book). However, if they're filming at Lake Erie and Astoria, Oregon, I've got to wonder whether they're still going to Louisiana or not.

Follow the movie discussion on IMDB.

Rough Shooting Locations

5/5-??: Not sure if they're out west in the Washington/Oregon area, or if they did indeed go to Louisiana. Given the lack of any news at all, sounds like shooting is really locked down. I'd guess they might be in the Mt. St. Helens area just because it's a fairly isolated area. There is a rumor that they will be shooting in Portland, Oregon shortly. Don't know if Astoria is on or off the location list.

5/1-5/3(?): Conneaut Lake Park, Pennsylvania

4/23-4/30: Presque Isle (on Lake Erie). Rumored Guy Pearce sighting around 4/24.

4/21-4/22: Reports that some filming is going on at Lake Erie's Presque Isle, but they may also have been filming the bunker scenes in an old warehouse in the Strip District in Pittsburgh at the beginning of the week.

4/19: Got a tip that they may have shot in Greentree today, fairly close to the Parkway (behind the WDVE building). If they did film in Greentree (a smallish town just west of Pittsburgh), that's the second movie this month to have shot there as Shelter also shot for a day or two.

4/14-4/18: Probably still shooting north of Pittsburgh - haven't heard any news this week. Could be filming in studio (perhaps the bunker scenes?) as the weather outside has been unseasonably springy and very unRoad-like.

4/10-4/11: New Galilee, PA (farm area used for the outside of the bunker scenes).

4/8-4/9: Possible filming in the Duquesne/McKeesport /Rankin area, in an old church. Any confirmation of this would be appreciated.

4/7: At another farm, in a corn field, this time in Saxonburg.

4/4-4/5: Hozak Christmas Tree Farm, Hanover Township (west of Pittsburgh). The movie trucks were there on 4/4 and gone on 4/6. There seems to be an interesting view from the back of the farm, but I couldn't see it from the road.

3/31-4/3 Seems to be an "off week," at least for the first unit. Viggo was in Argentina, and it's hard to film too much without him! Maybe some second unit work is going on. Also, I saw a bunch of The Road production trailers in a parking lot today. Normally, those trailers are...well, on the road at a location somewhere.

Late March: Filming at Frankfort Mineral Springs, in Beaver County near a waterfall.

March 25-28: Robert Duvall is in the building! He's was rumored to be "the old man" for some time and now it's got to be official (or a wild coincidence) as at least two people reported seeing him. The Road filmed in the area of the "Nemacolin Gob Pile." One look tells you why they'd want to film in one of the areas of coal waste in Western Pennsylvania:

Nemacolin Gob Pile

March 17-20: The "cellar scene" was shot in the Fanker Mansion outside of Pittsburgh. The make-up for the cellar people is absolutely phenomenal (I can't share a photo with you at this time, but will link to some as soon as I'm able). It's frightening and ghastly without being overdone - a very fine line to travel in this scene.

March 11-15: The production crew moved to Raccoon State Park on Tuesday, March 11 and started filming thereafter. According to the Beaver Valley Times, a member of the crew said they'd been filming woods scenes, a cave scene and some field scenes at this location.

March 3-7: Some filming took place near Gans, PA, on the unopened portion of Route 43.

Late February/Early March: Filming on a now-closed segment of the Pennsylvania turnpike in late February and early March, including a cannibal attack scene.

Late February: Some filming was done in North Braddock, Rankin and Duquesne. It sounds like the garage sequence may have been filmed there, and possibly city scenes taken from the river.

In February, we heard that unidentified movie producers negotiated with Conneaut Lake Park to do some filming. After weeks of speculation, it turned out The Road was filmed there in early May.

While I have not seen the script, I understand that much of it follows the book closely, including the ending. The scene where Father has to use one of his bullets sounds like it was straight out of the book.

News

While a number of media articles make it sound like Charlize Theron has been filming in Pennsylvania, it is unlikely that she has been in the area. While Mother's part in the novel The Road is pivotal, it's also very short and is being filmed in Oregon. Robert Duvall was in Pennsylvania in late March, and appeared to have only filmed in the Nemacolin area. Guy Pearce seems to have been spotted during the Lake Erie shooting. No word on Michael K. Williams; perhaps he shot up on Lake Erie, or perhaps he'll shoot on seaside Oregon. Amazing how many professional journalists lose track of the details in their stories! Most articles read like the majority of the wrters never read this Pulitzer-Prize winning novel.

Not Road News, But Interesting Footnotes

Commentary

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