Even before former Gov. Jennifer Granholm launched a tax incentive program to entice Hollywood to make films in Michigan in 2008, a number of movies were already made in the Great Lakes State — we have an authenticity here that you just can’t replicate in a studio. But things really took off after the program, which was then the most generous in the country, kicked in. For a few years, A-list actors and directors were routinely spotted on sets across the state, and the productions helped spur auxiliary businesses (and even land some locals as extras). That all ended when former Gov. Rick Snyder pulled the plug on the program in 2015, citing budget concerns. Whether Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will bring the program back remains up in the air, but for now, here’s a look at some of the most notable films to be made in Michigan.
8 Mile (2002)
Kudos to Eminem for convincing Hollywood to film this thinly veiled quasi-autobiography about his rise in Detroit’s hip-hop scene in the place where it all went down. (“Filmed on location in the 313” as the ending credits proudly proclaim.) Not only does the movie feature a number of notable Motor City locations (peep the Michigan Building’s ruin porn parking garage and a glimpse inside the long-demolished Chin Tiki), but it also brought colorful local characters like Miz Korona, Proof, and Obie Trice to the big screen. Fun fact: The rap battle scenes at the Shelter were not shot at the real Shelter, but rather a re-created set elsewhere in Detroit.
Photo via Universal PicturesGran Torino (2008)
Written and directed by Clint Eastwood, who also stars in the film, Gran Torino drew praise for its Motor City setting, with The New York Times describing it as “a sleek, muscle car of a movie made in the USA, in that industrial graveyard called Detroit.” The script was originally set in Minneapolis, but was rewritten to take advantage of Michigan’s then-new tax incentive program for films. For the most part it works, as Eastwood’s Walt Kowalski is a retired auto worker who befriends a Hmong family, and metro Detroit has a sizable population of that Asian culture. One line sticks out as inaccurate though, when Kowalski asks for season tickets for Detroit Lions games. Everyone knows Motor City Kitties games never sell out.
Photo via Warner Bros. PicturesBatman v Superman (2016)
The biggest film project ever to be filmed in Michigan, in Batman v Superman Detroit locations serve as the backdrop for the fictitious cities of Batman’s gritty Gotham and Superman’s sleek Metropolis (as well as Washington D.C. and Mexico for good measure). Some of the notable locations include the Detroit Public Library Main Branch, the Hygrade Deli (rechristened “Ralli’s Diner”), the Ransom Gillis House, the Old Wayne County Building, the Russell Industrial Center, and Michigan Central Station, among others. (You can learn more about Batman v Superman’s Detroit locations in this Detroit Free Press article.)
Photo via Warner Bros. PicturesCedar Rapids (2011)
Set in titular Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the production was reportedly moved to Ann Arbor only after Iowa failed to cough up a tax incentive. This dark comedy stars Ed Helms as a naive insurance agent who goes to Cedar Rapids for an industry convention; John C. Reily is also in the film.
Photo via Fox Searchlight PicturesWhip It (2009)
Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut stars Ellen Paige as a newbie to the high-impact world of roller derby. Though set in the fictional town of Bodeen, Texas, the movie was filmed in Michigan thanks to those tax incentives, with locations including Detroit, Ypsilanti, Ferndale, Hamtramck, Saline, and Birch Run. Since Detroit has a strong roller derby community, real players were picked from local teams like Detroit Derby Girls and the Grand Raggidy Roller Girls to lend the film authenticity.
Photo via Fox Searchlight PicturesAnatomy of a Murder (1959)
Based on the eponymous 1958 novel by Michigan Supreme Court Justice John D. Voelker (written under the pen name Robert Traver), Anatomy of a Murder tells the story of a 1952 Big Bay murder case in which Voelker served as the defense attorney. The movie was shot in and around Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, including Big Bay, Marquette, Ishpeming, and Michigamme. The attention to authenticity paid off: Law professor Michael Asimow called it “probably the finest pure trial movie ever made.” The James Stewart-starring movie had its world premiere on July 1, 1959, at the United Artists Theater in Detroit.
Photo via Columbia PicturesScream 4 (2011)
Though set in the fictional Woodsboro, Calif., the fourth and final installment of the horror franchise was filmed primarily in and around Ann Arbor. Scenes set at the “Woodsboro High School” featured in the original Scream were shot at Dearborn’s Woodworth Middle School in Dearborn, and Livonia’s former 16th District Court serves as a police station. Northville’s Next Chapter Bookstore Bistro also makes an appearance in the film, and even provided food for a scene.
Photo via Dimension FilmsOz the Great and Powerful (2013)
Directed by Royal Oak native Sam Raimi, this Wizard of Oz sequel was shot in Michigan, though you won’t be able to tell; the movie was made at Raleigh Michigan Studios in Pontiac using a mix of sets and computer-generated imagery to create Oz’s fantastic settings. The movie, which stars James Franco, Michelle Williams, Rachel Weisz, and Mila Kunis, premiered at Royal Oak’s Emagine Theater.
Photo via Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures30 Minutes or Less (2011)
Set in Grand Rapids, this flick stars Jesse Eisenberg as a stoner pizza delivery guy who has trouble completing the company’s “30 minutes or less” delivery guarantee. He soon gets involved in a cockamamie scheme in which a couple of crooks strap a remote-controlled bomb to his chest, which they will detonate unless he robs a bank within 10 hours. The bank robbery scene was filmed in the vacant Ludington State Bank building in Ludington.
Photo via Columbia PicturesFlipped (2010)
Based on a 2001 young adult novel of the same name, this movie was filmed in Ann Arbor, Saline, and Manchester, with a temporary house built in the Ann Arbor’s Thurston Nature Area. Though the book takes place in the late ’90s, the movie’s setting was changed to the early 1960s.
Photo via Warner Bros. PicturesYouth in Revolt (2009)
Though set in California locales Oakland and Clearlake, the movie version of this 1993 novel was filmed in Michigan, thanks to the state’s tax incentives. The Michael Cera- and Portia Doubleday-starring film was shot in Detroit, Royal Oak, Rochester, Ferndale, Frankfort, Lake Leelanau RV Park, Interlochen, Lake Ann, South Lyon, Ann Arbor, Wixom, Brighton, and Hazel Park.
Photo via Dimension FilmsThe Five-Year Engagement (2012)
Not only was the movie filmed in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, but it is set here, too. Jason Segel and Emily Blunt star as a couple whose relationship becomes strained after their engagement is continually extended when Blunt’s character is accepted into the University of Michigan’s post-doctorate in psychology program. Another Michigan shout-out: Segal’s character gives up his job as a head chef in San Francisco to work at Zingerman’s.
Photo via Universal PicturesReal Steel (2011)
In this Hugh Jackman-starring sci-fi sports movie set in the year 2020, robot boxers have replaced human ones. In addition to capitalizing on Michigan’s then-generous tax incentives, perhaps Detroit lent itself as a perfect backdrop for a tale about men and machines: It was filmed at a variety of locales including the Renaissance Center, Cobo Arena, the Detroit Fire Department headquarters, the Russell Industrial Center, the Ingham County Courthouse in Mason, Leslie Michigan Railroad Depot, the former Belle Isle Zoo, and the Highland Park Ford Plant.
Photo via Walt Disney Studio Motion PicturesThe End of the Tour (2015)
Jason Segal and Jesse Eisenberg returned to Michigan to play Rolling Stone journalist David Lipsky and Infinite Jest author David Foster Wallace, respectively, in this adaptation of Lipsky’s memoir of his experience interviewing Wallace, who died of suicide in 2008. The road trip story takes place in Wallace’s then-home in Normal, Ill., and Minneapolis, the last stop of his book tour for Infinite Jest, a book that propelled Wallace to superstardom; the movie was filmed in Grand Rapids, Hudsonville, and Muskegon.
Photo via A24It Follows (2015)
Writer and director (and Clawson native) David Rovert Mitchell drew praise for this out-of-nowhere horror hit, which used the genre of the slasher film as a parable for sexually transmitted infections. The movie was shot in and around Detroit, though the only explicit reference to the Motor City is Eight Mile Road — one of the most famous borderlines in the world, that the teenagers cross despite their parents forbidding it.
Photo via RADiUS-TWCThe Ides of March (2011)
Starring Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Evan Rachel Wood, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Paul Giamatti, this political drama was primarily filmed in Cincinnati, though it was also shot in downtown Detroit and Ann Arbor, including a scene shot at University of Michigan that featured 1,000 extras (thanks, again, to those tax incentives). Oddly, a credit to Cincinnati was erroneously omitted in the original version’s end credits.
Photo via Columbia Pictures61* (2001)
Though this sports drama tells the story of Thomas Jane and Mickey Mantle’s mission to beat Babe Ruth’s 1927 single-season home run record of 60 during the New York Yankees’ 1961 season, it was filmed in Detroit, with the former Tiger Stadium standing in as both itself and, thanks to some post-production magic, Yankee Stadium. (It even gets a credit as “playing” Yankee Stadium in the film’s ending credits.)
Photo via HBO Films/Warner Bros.Television DistributionInto the Storm (2014)
A disaster movie about a rash of tornadoes striking the fictional town of Silverton, Okla., the movie was filmed in Detroit, Rochester, Auburn Hills, and Oakland Charter Township. According to the Motion Picture Association of America, director Steven Quale chose Michigan as a filming location because it is geographically flat and similar to the Tornado Alley states, but also because of the state’s film tax incentives. For the movie, the production crew transformed Oakview Middle School into a disaster zone, with Principal John Bernia describing to the Oakland Press how the crew put “mud on the walls, debris everywhere, and cars flipped over in our parking lot.”
Photo via Warner Bros. ProductionsCatfish (2010)
This film was only shot in Michigan out of necessity — it’s a documentary about a man from Ishpeming who falls in love over the internet with a woman from Gladstone, and it all unravels from there. The film is credited with coining the term “catfishing,” or when a person creates a fake online persona, though it is interesting to note that its usage has changed from what was originally intended in the film. In the movie, Vince, the husband of the “catfish” woman, tells an anecdote about how when live cod were shipped to Asia from North America, the fish’s flesh became mushy due to inactivity unless fishermen put catfish in the tanks with the cod to keep them active. In the original usage, Vince implies his wife is a “catfish” by keeping the lives of those around her interesting.
Photo via Universal PicturesEscanaba in da Moonlight (2001)
Written, directed, and starring Chelsea resident Jeff Daniels, this film version of Daniels’ stage play of the same name might be the ultimate ode to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, chock full of Yooper slang and references to the point of likely being all but indecipherable to non-Michiganders. It was filmed in Escanaba.
Photo via Purple Rose FilmsRed Dawn (2012)
A remake of the 1984 film about what would happen if the Soviet Union invaded the United States, this version starring Chris Hemsworth swaps out the foreign adversary with North Korea (which was also swapped out from the original script’s China; this was changed so the film could have access to the Chinese box office, though the film was never released there). As part of the set design, the production crew pasted Communist posters around metro Detroit, and rolled military vehicles down the streets. Filming occurred in Detroit, Mount Clemens, Pontiac, Troy, Royal Oak, Lake Orion, and Harper Woods, among other cities.
Photo via Film DistrictThe Island (2005)
This futuristic thriller starring Scarlett Johansson and Ewan McGregor was Michael Bay’s first film shot in Michigan; he would return many more times for the Transformers franchise. Though the movie takes place in a futuristic utopia, scenes were shot in Detroit, with computer-generated sci-fi elements superimposed over them.
Photo via DreamWorksTransformers (2007), Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011), Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)
It seems like Detroit was the perfect setting for a big-budget franchise about robots that can transform into automobiles, and the Michael Bay-directed series returned to Michigan for each installment, spanning a total of five films over the course of 10 years. Though Michigan’s film tax incentive program ended in 2015, Paramount Pictures was able to continue to shoot the films here using a deal that was brokered before Snyder pulled the plug. (A 2018 spinoff film, Bumblebee, was not filmed here.) The most Detroit thing to happen in the movies? No doubt when Optimus Prime and Megatron do battle in the Michigan Central Station during a showdown. Cars killed Detroit’s grandest train station, and that scene was perhaps unintentionally a bit too on the nose.
Photo via DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount PicturesDetroit (2017)
By this point, Michigan’s film tax incentive program had ended — which is a shame, because that meant this Kathryn Bigelow-directed “war movie” about Detroit’s 1967 summer of civil unrest had to be filmed in and around Boston, of all places, though the crew did shoot a few scenes in the real Motor City. The film had its world premiere at Detroit’s Fox Theatre on July 26, 2017. It was a commercial flop, grossing only $24 million with a budget of $34 million.
Photo via Annapurna Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, Entertainment OneWhite Boy Rick (2018)
Here’s another movie about Detroit that had to be largely filmed elsewhere due to the end of the state’s tax incentive program, this time in Cleveland, though a few scenes were shot in Detroit. Set in the Motor City during crack epidemic of the 1980s, this Matthew McConaughey-starring film tells the real-life story about Rick Wershe Jr., who became the youngest ever FBI informant at the age of 14. (Eventually, the Feds turned on the real Wershe, and he was thrown in prison for possessing cocaine. He is still behind bars for involvement in a car theft ring, but could be released in 2020.)
Photo via Sony Pictures
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