Time-traveling thriller "Jumper" was granted rare access to shoot scenes in Rome's Colosseum for an unprecedented three days.
- Dec 20, 2006
AceShowbiz - A rare treatment has been given by mayor of Rome to Doug Liman's latest big screen project "Jumper." The New York Times reported that the time-traveling thriller flick amazingly gained unprecedented three days of access to film scenes in the Colosseum, including its underground chambers that are rarely visited by tourists.
The permission turns out to be the part of a newly open attitude toward film from mayor Walter Veltroni who is also a film buff and one of the founders of the RomaCinemaFest. It has long been known that the city's bureaucrats are extremely protective when it comes to the building, which is recognized as the most imposing of Rome's ancient landmarks.
Though so, the access was not without some restrictions as the film crew only got allowance to shoot around dawn and dusk without artificial lighting, prompting them to work from 6:30 to 8:30 a.m., then for another two hours from 3:30 p.m. Harnesses were also used during the process since any properties were not permitted to touch the ground.
"It's by far the most stressful environment I've ever filmed in, because you can never go back," Liman commented. "You have to get it right and this is a critical scene in the performance point of view and it flies a little contrary to my style of filmmaking. I like to shoot and reshoot."
