On Location…in Cleveland?
On a recent trip to Cleveland, my wife and I got a surprise—they were filming the newest Superman movie in front of our hotel! We got to see much of the preparation for the movie shoot, taking place in Cleveland over several weeks. We arrived on Thursday, June 17 to find the main street in front of our hotel completely shut down, with staff from the movie shoot busy turning the building next door into the “Daily Planet,” creating fake storefronts for shops in “Metropolis,” and setting up large piles of fake rubble.
Over the next few days, they added crashed cars, fake police cars and military vehicles, and a huge stage elevated 20 feet in the air, which we suspected could stand in for an alien spaceship landing in front of the “Daily Planet” building.
Superman will be the first film in a new reboot of the DC Universe led by writer and director James Gunn. Workers on set were wearing lanyards that read “Genesis,” the production name for the new superhero film. The cast includes David Corenswet as Clark Kent / Superman, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El / Supergirl, and Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner / Green Lantern.
While few details have been released about the plot of the new movie, IMDB offers this brief description: “Follows the titular superhero as he reconciles his heritage with his human upbringing. He is the embodiment of truth, justice and the American way in a world that views this as old-fashioned.”
Filming is taking place this summer in Cleveland, Cincinnati and several other locations after the production was awarded an $11 million tax credit by the Ohio Department of Development. Before coming to downtown Cleveland on June 17, other filming for the movie took place on Mentor Headlands beach in Lake County east of the city. In an interesting twist, the Superman character was initially created by Cleveland natives Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster in 1933. The new movie will be released in theaters on July 11, 2025.
We were in town to see the musical version of “Back to the Future,” my favorite movie, and whenever I travel to Cleveland, I love staying in the Cleveland Arcade at the Hyatt Regency. It’s a beautiful old arcade built in 1930, and it currently houses the hotel and a bunch of little shops and restaurants. While we were there, a couple got married in the main hall, and the music played until late into the night.
How cool is that?
