'Battlefield Earth' Shooting Details

It appears to be official that John Travolta’s big screen version of L. Ron Hubbard’s Battlefield Earth book will be shooting in Montreal. According to the Montreal Gazette, the film’s producers have opened offices in the city in anticipation of a production start. Plans are for a three month shooting schedule to start in July. The scope of the project is slightly hinted at with Montreal film commissioner Andre Lafond revealing the film’s budget to be in the $120M range to cover what the paper says may be "chock-full of expensive special effects." The producers denied that amount, though they chose not to reveal the film’s actual budget.

Set in the far future, the film will tell the story is set on an Earth enslaved by an alien species who are physically three meters tall. The story follows a human survivor named Jonnie Goodboy Tyler, who unites mankind and leads a revolution to overcome the alien overlords who have been plundering the planet of its resources as well. According to the Gazette, John Travolta will play an alien named Terl who is described as "the nefarious head of security for the extraterrestrials." No other actors have, as yet, been cast.

The paper also reports that the film’s producers, with Don Carmody in particular mentioned, are readying three other projects that may also shoot in Montreal: The Whole Nine Yards with Bruce Willis starring and Jonathan Lynn helming scheduled for a late May start, The Art of War starring Wesley Snipes and Ernie Popovich, " a cop thriller" starring Sylvester Stallone. Carmody tells the paper that there’s a chance that the last two projects may shoot in Toronto.