Filming wraps at Broadmeadows prison for Foxx movie

Hmmm, now they're calling it a "Foxx" movie???

THORTON — Actor Jamie Foxx and his colleagues finished their sentences in the old Broadmeadows prison Friday.

Shooting at the old jail for “Law Abiding Citizen” was expected to wrap up Friday, and movie crews were to move on to another Philadelphia area location.

The prison was swarming with movie crews filming and setting up Thursday. Crews were still cleaning up and constructing sets while ensuring the jail didn’t lose its worn-in look.

“Law Abiding Citizen” is the latest project for F. Gary Gray (“Be Cool,” “The Italian Job”) who directs Gerard Butler (“300,” “RocknRolla,”) and Academy Award-winner Foxx (“Ray,” “The Kingdom”) in a story of a man taking revenge on the penal system — one district attorney at a time.

Crews spent three weeks at the old jail, filming for about one week. Last month, the movie filmed at City Hall in Philadelphia.

All of the approximately 50 days of shooting will take place in the Philadelphia area.

Scenes were being filmed Thursday afternoon in Block C, an original cell block from the nearly 80-year-old jail, as a crowd watched from a monitor in the next room.

The old prison’s mess hall was converted into the movie’s police station, with lines of desks and a locker room nearby.

The room wasn’t part of the filming around noon Thursday, but studio workers made use of the set’s swivel chairs while talking on cell phones.

The jail has been used as a storage facility since prisoners were moved to the current prison in 1998.

Link to story here: http://www.delcotimes.com/articles/2009/02/14/news/doc499645bb519c1483872328.txt

Well, this should turn out to be a good thing.

Foxx is likely to get an Oscar nod for his serious portrayal of a mentally ill virtuoso in 'The Soloist'. If you haven't seen the trailer, it's pretty good stuff, and he's paired up with Robert Downey, Jr. Gerry and Jamie together in a dramatic film within the same year as 'The Soloist' might give Gerry a bump into the next level of script choices. I'm speculating he wants that,given the move to his own production company.

If he's smart, he'll shut up and parley this into really good PR.