'White Boy Rick' filming turns Cleveland into Detroit

Cleveland's Tower City Center appears to have been transformed into downtown Detroit circa the 1980s, complete with a banner that reads, "The People Mover: The fastest way to get around downtown!"

A Twitter user tweeted the photos to our sister paper, the Cleveland Scene, in an attempt to find out what the heck is going on.

@ClevelandScene @vincethepolack anyone know why they are setting up Detroit People Mover stuff in tower city? pic.twitter.com/WbLJSEuH3X

— PHG in CLE (@__PHG__) May 1, 2017

The most likely scenario, as the Scene's Sam Allard points out, is the filming of the White Boy Rick film. Production started in March in Cleveland, with a brief stint filmed in Detroit, where the story takes place.

The film stars Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Jason Leigh and tells the real-life story of Richard Wershe Jr., the infamous drug dealer and underage police informant who has been in prison for almost 30 years.

The movie is set for a 2018 release.