The movie “The Crazies” will be partially filmed in my grandparents home town! How cool! I spent many many summers there as a child. It’ll be really cool to see what happens on the big screen!
The movie The Crazies will be partially filmed in Lenox. Iowa offers tax incentives for filmmakers and this makes it very attractive to the movie industry. John’s job is to find locations in Iowa that fit a particular look that is needed for a movie or commercial. In mid December rural landscapes were looked at and they settled on Lenox. This is a remake of the science fiction movie from the 1970’s called The Crazies. George Romero directed the original movie, and he is serving as Executive Director. The premise of the movie is: An army plane crashes into the town’s water supply contaminating it with chemical warfare. The hero is the hometown sheriff played by Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell plays his doctor wife. You may be familiar with Timothy in his HBO series Deadwood and the film Hitman. Once the water supply is tainted it makes the residents crazy. The town is cordoned off by the military to contain the situation.
Production will begin in April with pre-production crew arriving the beginning of April. Iowa State Savings Bank will be the setting for the jail, Trost Agency will be the interior of the medical clinic, and Gary Freeman’s abandoned house in the country will be burned down for the film. Ritchie Funeral home will be used for the exterior shots of the funeral home, Lenox Community School will have shots of the gym, hallway and baseball field, the water tower and Main Street will also have scenes filmed.
John’s roll is to coordinate the locations and to keep the public informed. The movie crew will be focusing on shooting this $18 million project and will be working 10-12 hour days. They may seem abrupt but they are very focused on their job. Filming will begin around April 20th and conclude around May 8th. The community will benefit financially with fees going to the school, city and chamber for their help as well as site locations. This is a firm deal and they are definitely coming to Lenox.
Approximately 140 pre production people will be arriving and need housing. They are interested in hunting lodges, motel, bed and breakfast and RV’s. If anyone is interested in providing lodging please contact Michelle at the chamber.
The Crazies will be released by October of this year.