Filming of Resident Evil underway in downtown Sudbury

The film industry is up and running again in northern Ontario. The reboot of the sci-fi film series ‘Resident Evil’ is being filmed in Sudbury. (Jaime McKee/CTV News)

Sudbury — Downtown Sudbury is looking a bit different than it usually does. Crew members have been working through the day and night to finish designing sets, and shoot scenes of the film ‘Resident Evil,’ which will continue until the middle of December.

Film production in the province resumed in June as a part of the Stage 3 reopening. Production companies are slowly returning to the north, where dozens of films and television series have been shot in recent years.

When it comes to location, Rob Riselli, of Cultural Industries Ontario North Film Programs and Reporting, said Sudbury is a great fit.

“They wanted that kind of gritty look," said Riselli. "It’s kind of set in a mining scenario, so given we’re a mining community, why not?”

With COVID-19 precautions in place, production has had to change slightly. But so far so good, for all cast and crew members in Sudbury.

“Crews try and work a little bit differently then they may have beforehand, and certainly testing," said Riselli.

“The crew gets tested frequently. We have been fortunate that in the industry as a whole, we haven’t had any COVID-19 spread.”

The city did not make anyone available to speak to CTV News regarding the production of the film, but it did release a statement telling residents of Sudbury to be aware of road closure throughout the city.

Some businesses affected

Some local business have also been affected by the road closures, including a local vape shop.

“I would say about 10 to 12 moving trucks showed up. Everyone just got out, started setting up their perimeters and stuff and then everyone had a job to do,” said eCloudz co-owner Robert Arsenault.

“Just seeing it in person, I’ve never seen anything like it really.”

Arsenault said his vape store did lose some business because there was no parking for customers. But he said the Resident Evil crew they solved the problem quickly.

“We had the whole route at the front closed, but they let (customers) come through the back. They re-opened a little area so our customers could get through. It was really nice of them.”

Cultural Industries Ontario North told CTV News the production will be a good boost for Sudbury’s economy. Local hotels and restaurants will be busier and a lot of the film technicians and crew members are local hires.

“I would say it’s a good budget,” said Riselli.

“The hotels and the restaurants to a certain extent, we do have to deal with COVID-19 restrictions. They’ll inject quite a bit into the economy. Local hires stuff like that, a number of the crew will be from here. It will put some money into the city.”

The film is expected to wrap in the middle of December.