The producers of a big-budget Hollywood movie have cancelled plans to film scenes at the Ottawa train station after failing to come to terms with VIA Rail on a fee.

Source Code is a $35-million science-fiction thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain), recent Oscar-nominee Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air) and Canadian comedian Russell Peters. The story concerns a soldier who inexplicably wakes up in the body of a commuter who witnesses a train bombing.

Filming began March 1 in Montreal and is expected to continue until May. The production was coming to Ottawa in early April for six days of shooting at the train station, which was chosen because of its “modern futuristic” look.

But the stumbling block that caused the producers to back out appears to be the fee VIA Rail wanted for use of the Ottawa station. The amount is believed to be about $250,000, although neither VIA Rail nor a film company spokeswoman would confirm the amount.

“We will not be coming to Ottawa and we will not comment on the situation,” Manon Bougie, the film’s production manager said Wednesday.

She said a replacement location has been found in Montreal.

News of the cancellation comes a day after officials at Ottawa’s Canadian Screen Training Centre announced they will close April 1 after 29 years, a victim of funding cuts by the federal government.

“We were going to have a blockbuster film shooting here and now we don’t,” said Roch Brunette, head of the Ottawa-Gatineau Film and Television Development Corporation.

Brunette said the production was expected to pump up to $200,000 into Ottawa’s economy, including hotels, restaurants, and other services during the six-day shoot for a cast and crew that was to number about 100 people.

“But business goes on as usual. We’ll find someone else to come over and shoot a movie here because we’re being told that our locations are extraordinary,” he said.

VIA Rail spokesman Malcolm Andrews said a compromise could not be reached with the film’s producers on a fee for the use of the Ottawa station.

“The producers chose not to continue discussions with us once the issue of costs was put on the table. My understanding from my colleagues who were in on the discussions was that the other side left the table — literally,” said Andrews.

“The impression I was left with was that it wasn’t just a question of not being willing to talk terms at that point, or continue talking terms or attempt to, which is unfortunate. We regret they felt obliged to leave the table and not discuss terms and that’s something we were and are willing to do.”

He said he believes the fee request was “fair.”

“Our goal is never to gouge anybody,” said Andrews.

He said there are “real costs” involved in allowing a film production to take over a train station without disrupting the normal routine. He said the producers needed to shoot scenes at the station during the day and also use one of the rail tracks.

“We had basically worked out a plan whereby customers would still have been able to access the trains throughout the day, and trains would have been able to leave and arrive on time despite the film production would have occupied an entire track for a full week,” he said.

Source.