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.

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I’ve added some new pictures of Jake on the set of Source Code on Wednesday (March 10). Have also updated with more pictures from Photoshoot Session #058 and replaced the old ones with untagged versions.

Gallery Links:
Movie Productions > Source Code (2011) > On Set – March 10, 2010
Photoshoots & Portraits > Photoshoot Sessions > Session 058

Coming from a family steeped in the business, Jake Gyllenhaal knows the routine. When it comes to promoting a film, you can never say enough good things about your co-stars.

“It’s true, actors do this stuff: ‘Oh, he’s great — he pisses lemonade and he shits rainbows,”‘ he says.

But no more. Such was the positive experience Gyllenhaal enjoyed with his new best buddy Tobey Maguire in Brothers, he’s committed to working on projects where the camaraderie is real.

“I don’t believe any more I can make a movie when I don’t care … about the other people in the process,” says the actor, whose father is a director, his mother a writer and sister is the Oscar-nominated Maggie Gyllenhaal. “I don’t think I’m any good when I don’t interact.”

Once poised to take over from Maguire in the Spider-Man franchise, 29-year-old Gyllenhaal credits his on-screen brother for initiating a meaningful and professionally rich relationship when the pair decided to do the film.

“We’d work out together, we’d play basketball together,” Gyllenhaal says. “Not only is he a great actor, he’s also a great producer in some ways.

“He’s 100 per cent always involved.”

Gyllenhaal’s career has remained buoyant since he was nominated for an Oscar alongside Heath Ledger for Brokeback Mountain in 2005, although he’s yet to become the next ubiquitous Hollywood star as many had expected. Ironically, Gyllenhaal turned down the lead role in the blockbuster Avatar but with a raft of diverse roles, including the big-budget Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, coming to screens this year, he is destined to reinforce his reputation as a marquee name.

“Working on a movie like Prince of Persia was awesome,” he says. “It was really great fun to be like an action hero, jump around and run off walls and fight bad guys, have great quippy lines. Wearing half your clothes is always really fun.”

Gyllenhaal worked furiously for seven months to hone his physique for the fantasy adventure movie, based on the video game series of the same name. The $US150 million ($164 million) film is scheduled for a May release.

He has other significant films in the can, among them Love and Other Drugs with Anne Hathaway and the comedy Nailed alongside Jessica Biel.

Gyllenhaal is now shooting sci-fi thriller Source Code, capping a hectic 12 months during which time he also split from his partner, Reese Witherspoon.

“Whatever I dreamed and hoped for in my career and life is not how it’s gone in a lot of ways and I love that.”

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Canadian comedian Russell Peters has landed a part in a science-fiction film directed by David Bowie’s son, Duncan Jones.

A publicist says the Brampton, Ont.-raised funnyman will co-star in the U.S.-produced thriller “Source Code,” alongside Jake Gyllenhaal and Vera Farmiga, who is up for an Oscar for her role in “Up in the Air.”

“Source Code,” which is set for release next year, follows a soldier as he awakens in a commuter’s body during a train bombing.

Co-stars include Michelle Monaghan and Jeffrey Wright.

Peters plays a comical passenger on the train, said a publicist. His role was recently expanded with additional scenes and dialogue, according to a release.

The shooting schedule has forced Peters to postpone his March tour dates, including stops in Australia, New Zealand and Las Vegas, until May.

“Moving the tour wasn’t an easy decision to make — I’ve never had to do this before,” Peters said in the release.

“I’ve been looking for good film roles for a while now and this one’s really good.”

Peters recently performed a sold-out show at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.

The 39-year-old, who has been doing standup for 20 years, is also working on a book.

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