Filming wraps on Nicolas Cage western shot in Cave City
CAVE CITY, Ky. (WBKO) – For the last three weeks, Hollywood stars have made their temporary homes in Cave City for the filming of an upcoming early 1900′s era western starring Nicolas Cage.
With filming officially complete, Cave Area Convention Center executive director Jennifer McNett shared further details on the film’s plot and the cast living in Barren County for the shoot.
“It’s where they’re traveling from New York to Kentucky and they’re hiding out and there’s a scene in one of the local caves, so we have some footage in caves here,” McNett explained. “They did a lot of filming at Jesse James Riding Stables and in that area for the pasture. We had a lot of scenes with horses because this is the 1900s, and then primarily it was filmed on Guntown Mountain here in Cave City.”
Other locations for the film included several farms in Edmonson County and additional locations in Horse Cave.
Other cast members for the film include Heather Graham, William McNamara, Costas Mandylor, Scarlet Rose Stallone, Bre Blair, and Jeremy Jackson.
Aside from raising exposure for Cave City, McNett shared that the economic impact created by the crew’s presence throughout the county made the project well worth it. In hosting the production team, the film also created several opportunities for local employment and credit on the project.
“Everyone that’s been on this film has been paid. It’s not volunteer at all, everyone got compensated,” McNett assured. “They brought in a crew of about 100, and we also employed at least 50 locals every day, there were some days we would have up to 70 people that were locals, that’s between like, the catering and the construction and we had a lot of people that played extras and did background work. So there’s just a lot that went into it. And it provided a lot of jobs for people that needed something temporarily.”
According to McNett, at least 20 films have been shot in south-central Kentucky in recent years, and with the exposure from the latest project, she hopes to see many more in the future. She plans to continue to work to bring more large-budget films to Cave City.
“So, a lot of people don’t understand why our small film commission will go to LA and spend the money for a booth at the American Film Market,” McNett said. “Well, this is the reason why, is because we brought back a multimillion-dollar film where we made a connection in LA, and when we went back in November, we were able to meet with them again and talk with them and finalize all of the stuff that they needed.”
An early premiere for the new film will be available for south-central Kentucky residents through the Southern Kentucky Film Commission before the film is released in theaters. McNett hopes that after the film’s release, the beauty of southern Kentucky will be visible on a larger scale.
“I think people will want to come to Cave City and to these counties around to see where that film was and where Nicolas Cage stayed and things like that, I think it’s going to be really good for the area,” she said.
Filming for another project at Guntown Mountain has already begun, with many of the same producers on board. Additional details on that film are not available yet.
