6:17am Thursday 10th April 2008
By Craig Evry
FILM crews will be shooting scenes with A-list film stars in Lacock today for a Hollywood horror movie due to be released in early 2009.
Oscar winners Sir Anthony Hopkins and Benicio del Toro will be in the north Wiltshire village filming scenes for The Wolfman, a remake of the 1940s original.
The National Trust's historic Tithe Barn will be transformed into an ice house for the storing of dead bodies, while a garage next to number 13 High Street will become a blacksmith's, where gold bullets will be forged.
Filming has already taken place in the Wiltshire village of Castle Combe.
Crews have been in Lacock preparing since last week, with the clear up set to last until Monday.
Preparation was due to run until 9pm last night to ensure today's filming went without a hitch. Filming is scheduled to run from 11am to 9pm.
Huge blocks of ice will be loaded into the Tithe Barn, with a cooling system in place to stop it from melting. Lighting cranes, called genie booms, will be used to shine into the barn to aid filming. A smoke machine will be used for effect at both the Tithe Barn and the High Street garage.
Alternative parking for villagers has been provided in a field next to the Red Lion pub and marshals are stationed in the village to shepherd cars and pedestrians along East Street.
A sum of £5,000 has been donated by the film company to Lacock Parish Council and the National Trust. Residents were also in line for a payout for the inconvenience.
The Wolfman is a Universal Studios film being directed by Joe Johnston, who previously directed Jurassic Park III, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Jumanji. He took over as Wolf Man director after Mark Romanek walked out.
The Wolfman also stars Golden Globe winner Emily Blunt, a British actress who starred in The Devil Wears Prada, and Higo Weaving, who had plum roles in The Matrix and The Lord of the Rings.
In the film, Del Toro plays Lawrence Talbot, an American man who on return to his ancestral homeland, is bitten and subsequently cursed by a werewolf.
The 1941 original was directed by George Waggner and released with the tagline "Night monster with the blood lust of a savage beast!"
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/trade_directory/