Scarlett Johansson Stylish Photo With Football Players: Manchester creativity hub the Northern Quarter and Liverpool’s iconic Stanley Docks have witnessed plenty of frenetic action across the centuries, but the famous North-West attractions will need to draw upon all their glamorous experience later this year for a visit from Marvel Studios.
Directors at the Hollywood home of superheroics will use Lancashire and Merseyside as the scenes for a series of high-speed chases in The First Avenger, the latest instalment in the adventures of latex legend Captain America, when filming begins in September.
The Quarter will be morphed into 1940s New York during a three-week transformation, and the docklands will welcome an enormous wartime submarine for “pivotal” sequences starring the likes of Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L Jackson. "We were approached in February by the locations manager,” says Susan Williams, the Drama Liaison Manager at Manchester organisers Vision+Media.
“They wanted 1940s New York streets to complement locations already sourced in Liverpool. We suggested Manchester's Northern Quarter to Marvel as its wide streets, towering buildings and pre-war architecture make the perfect backdrop for 1940s New York.
“We believe that projects such as this provide significant financial benefits for the region. A project of this scale will be a significant boost for the region's economy.”
Previous big-name productions shot in the area, including Sherlock Holmes and Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, are thought to have generated around £48 million during 2,000 days of filming, but Wendy Simon, Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet Member for Culture, says Marvel’s plans represent “a massive boost” of “unprecedented scale”.
“We've never hosted a production of this size before – the length of time on location alone is going to have a huge impact on the economy of both cities,” she predicts.
''The Captain America production perfectly embodies the attraction of filming in Liverpool and Manchester – directors love the architecture and the can-do attitude in both cities.
“The fact they are only 40 minutes apart is what makes the North-West one of the great movie locations in Europe.”
Scheduled for release in July 2011, the story follows a mild-mannered soldier as a series of US Army experiments turn him into a human weapon capable of bringing hope and justice to a war-weary America.
“We are delighted and proud to be shooting in the UK,” says Executive Producer Louis D’Esposito, praising locals for their “invaluable” patience.
“The communities have been so welcoming, helpful and accommodating. We really hope that we don't cause too much inconvenience during our shoot."