Surrogates: Movie magic is returning to Lynn

Lynn
By Thor Jourgensen

The Daily Item

Rick Vitali and his brother practice law on Andrew Street but Hollywood, not habeas corpus, has been on his mind this week.

The Vitalis and Andrew Street neighbors Christopher Joyce and David Peralta are located in the epicenter of the upcoming filming schedule for “Surrogates,” the futuristic movie starring Bruce Willis.

The star and a sizeable supporting cast took over Blake and Willow streets May 29 and 30. Starting Wednesday, they will occupy a swath of downtown ranging from Broad Street to Market Street.

There was no definitive word Friday from the production company confirming if Willis will be in town next week.

Anyone living or working downtown or doing business in the area can expect traffic detours, parking bans and film production crew members politely telling them to wait until filming halts or to move out of camera range.

“Spectator access will be limited and we are asking for cooperation,” Deputy Police Chief Kevin Coppinger said.

Beginning Wednesday, the Surrogates production crew will film an action sequence involving two helicopters. One will be part of the sequence and the other will film the scene.

The tentative film schedule involves filming on Munroe and Washington streets with filming shifting to the walkway between Washington Street and Central Square underneath the commuter rail tracks late Wednesday.

Filming will switch to Exchange and Mount Vernon streets on Thursday and include a movie set depicting a car wreck at Andrew and Washington streets. Traffic and parking will be limited on main streets running through Central Square and side streets for all or part of Thursday.

The action shifts to Andrew Street on Friday where part of the action will take place in an alleyway below street level bordering 56 Andrew St. where the Vitalis have a ground floor office.

“We think it’s great. This could be our big break,” said Rick Vitali.

Parking will be off limits on Munroe Street and Washington Street from Andrew to Union Street as well as Exchange Street, Central Square and Willow Street from Central Square to Oxford Street.

“A lot of areas will be affected with no parking,” said Andrea Scalise, aide to Mayor Edward J. Clancy, Jr.

Coppinger urged drivers to park on filming days in the Market Street garage.

The Andrew Street parking lot will be closed most likely on Thursday and Friday and tentative plans call for allowing traffic to travel in both directions on Mount Vernon Street beginning Wednesday.

The “Third Thursday” international fair scheduled for Central Square will be relocated from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. to Heritage State Park near Seaport Landing.

Area businesses like Vitali’s will be open while others, like Eastern Bank, will see their daily operations limited. The bank will be open but its Oxford Street parking lot will be closed next Thursday and Friday and its drive through window will be closed beginning Tuesday through Saturday.

Surrogates producers hired four Lynn police officers to work a traffic detail two weeks ago and the moviemakers will hire three times that number next week to handle pedestrian and vehicle traffic flow.

Vitali will be welcoming the interruption.

“It brings goodwill into downtown,” he said.