Written by new-contact on Feb 7, 2014. Posted in Production News

RoboCop remake films on location in Toronto doubling for a future Detroit

Jose Padilha’s big-budget remake of iconic action crime drama RoboCop filmed largely on location in Toronto, doubling the Canadian city for a futuristic Detroit. Like Paul Verhoeven’s original, the film tells the story of a maimed police officer resurrected as a cyborg.

Filming was based at Pinewood Toronto Studios and used six different sound stages, including the facility’s 45,900-square-foot ‘Mega’ stage and 40,000-square-foot ‘Jumbo’ stage.

The production team also used additional warehouses and training facilities elsewhere in the city, building their own sets in the available space.

“In Hamilton we built a restaurant in an empty space that was shot up. We chose this location because we needed to film at night in the rain with a parking lot across the street,” explained the film’s Unit Production Manager Lyn Lucibello.

“Mississauga Fire Station [was] used as a RoboCop training facility. We chose this location because it is a training facility for the fire department."

Filming was based at Pinewood Toronto Studios and used six different sound stages, including the facility’s 45,900-square-foot ‘Mega’ stage.

"The University of Toronto [was used] for the exterior Detroit Police Station [scene] when RoboCop is introduced to the public," Lucibello added: "We chose this location for the modern-looking glass building set within a city. We built an elevator and stage for the introduction of RoboCop to the city of Detroit.”

Pinewood Toronto Studios is a popular location filming facility and in recent years has hosted major event movies including Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim and Columbia Pictures’ remake of Total Recall. As a brand, Pinewood is expanding its North American presence with a new facility in Atlanta, Georgia, a state that’s rapidly becoming a US production hub.

Ontario is Canada’s top production hub and Toronto is one of the main filming centres in North America. The province’s world-class studio facilities are a major appeal, as is the rich filming incentive programme that includes a 25% Production Services Tax Credit.

(Photos: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/Columbia Pictures)