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Will Smith Gets the Finger From New York
By
Jen Carlson
Published Dec 17, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Dec 17, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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Did anyone go see destructo-porn blockbuster, I Am Legend, this weekend? Apparently New Yorkers who saw the movie up close and personal when it was being filmed gave it two thumbs down, or rather -- one middle finger up! amNewYork reports on Will Smith's run-ins with disgruntled locals.
"I would say, percentage-wise, it's the most amount of middle fingers I have received in my career. I'm used to people liking me… [all those] middle fingers, I was starting to think F-U was my name."
Shutting down streets, sidewalks, the viaduct at Grand Central and...the Brooklyn Bridge may yield that sort of reaction. Director Francis Lawrence admits they were a "nuisance," but was the end result worth it for New York movie-goers?
Apparently the decision to shift locations from the book's LA to the film's New York was made to "capture the desolate, deserted feel" (we always thought LA was more vapid!).The Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre & Broadcasting and Film Commissioner Katherine Oliver made the director's vision a reality and the result was "probably the largest film that ever shot here in NYC."
There were also several shots and locations that had never been done before, such as a scene in which Smith walked down an empty Fifth Avenue and one with him hitting golf balls off a SR-71 Blackbird on top of historic ship, The Intrepid, a feat Oliver euphemistically refers to as the film office's ability to "support and cater to challenging cinematic requests."
Smith agrees that this was the only way to shoot, saying, "You realize you've never actually seen an empty shot of New York. It is chilling to walk down the middle of Fifth Avenue. It puts an icky, eerie feeling on the movie when you see those shots." We'd have to agree! Reserve your middle fingers for Carrie & Co. next time.
Photo via a-minor's flickr.
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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