According to the local media (and a few savvy tipsters) filming for the Untitled Terrence Malick Project is well underway in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
As we’ve reported, one of the movie’s stars, Ben Affleck, was spotted in the region over the summer, where he reportedly told locals he was doing research for an upcoming role.
On Monday, the film’s location manager, John Patterson, addressed Bartlesville’s City Coucil and told them that “crews are trying to keep their operations small and unobtrusive during filming.”
For the past week or so, they have been filming in a residential area east of U.S. Highway 75.
As far as their filming schedule, overall, the production hasn’t been staying in one place for very long. “We’ve popped up around downtown a couple of times already and usually stay for half-an-hour — maybe 45 minutes and then disappear again and pop up someplace else,” Patterson said.
Little is known about the movie, except that its been described as “a powerful and moving love story” and that it will continue shooting in Oklahoma through November. In addition to Affleck, the film’s cast includes Rachel McAdams, Javier Bardem and Rachel Weisz.
It is no coincidence Bartlesville was chosen for the film, the town, which is located about an hour north of Tulsa, also happens to be Terrence Malick’s hometown.
If you’re in Oklahoma this fall and spot the cast around town, let us know about it at olv@onlocationvacations.com!
Do they need extras? I live in B’ville and would love to be an extra.
I visited Bartlesville during the film company’s shooting at the Indian Summer Festival, near the Price Tower (by Frank Lloyd Wright), and adjacent to the Bartlesville Community Center (by the Wright Foundation’s successor – Wesley Peters) . The crew was filming very low-key, trying not to distract attention from the featured native dancing.
A PBS producer from St. Louis accompanied me on a second overnight visit in October, in hopes of meeting Malik. The film company was lodged at the old Phillips Hotel, where I spoke to a production support driver. He said the day’s schedule included filming at a private swimming pool, with no visitation allowed. We found out later it was a nude scene.
Local residents and officials went out of their way to leave the film crew alone, in both Bartlesville and Pawhuska. The crew moved quickly between locations. It was obvious that the townspeople wished to accommodate Malik’s request to work in obscurity.