‘Insurgent’ filming in Atlanta (Open Thread)

divergentstills5

Here we go initiates! The Divergent sequel Insurgent, has commenced filming in and around Atlanta,Georgia.

Here’s what we know about the shoot so far:

CL Casting is handling extras locally and their latest casting call was looking for “J’S OFFICIALS.”

The vast majority of filming will take place in Georgia, though there are rumors Insurgent will spend a few days filming in Chicago (where the Divergent was filmed and set) before they wrap production.

The directional signs they are using say ‘Mineral’ (which is the movie’s working title).

Mineral signs were spotted in Atlanta today (check out here and let us know if you recognize the area).

A Mineral sign was spotted yesterday (May 27) at the U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta.

And, it was confirmed Amity compound scenes are filming in the Serebe Community, just south of Atlanta. (A huge thank you to @LadyofErudite for helping us with the details.)

The sequel stars Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet, Octavia Spencer Jai Courtney, Ray Stevenson, Zoë Kravitz, Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort, Maggie Q and Mekhi Phifer. The movie is based Veronica Roth’s best selling book series and hits theaters Mar. 20, 2015.

We thought it would be a good idea to start an open thread for Insurgent, like our popular TFIOS Thread, so fans in the Atlanta area can have one place to talk about all of the movie’s filming locations as they’re uncovered.

Bookmark this page and use it to discuss Insurgent, its filming locations, or any sightings of the cast you may have while they are shooting in Atlanta. If you have any scoop, photos, or news to share regarding Insurgent, you can also email us at olv@onlocationvacations.com, or Tweet us.

143 COMMENTS

  1. The building on the right side of the Mineral sign photo looks like one of the AmericasMart buildings in downtown Atlanta. I’m pretty sure that’s Spring Street in the photo.

  2. Thanks!
    Here’s another tidbit:

    Insurgent Atlanta “@TonyaVillos: @LadyofErudite @olv The last 2 weeks they’ve had signs up at Screen Gems Studios.

    They are still at the above locations and the Spring St location is also their base camp (Mockingjay used this space too)

  3. I received the following message regarding street closures from my kid’s daycare in downtown Atlanta. Not sure if it’s related to Insurgent or another project. Does anyone know?

    “Lane Closures due to Filming on June 6th

    Parents, please be advised that a production company will be filming a television movie in the Underground Atlanta area on June 6th. During these times, there may be traffic congestion, detours and delays. Please take caution and be aware of these lane restrictions.

    Westbound lane of Central Ave. SW between
    Martin Luther King Dr. SW and Washington St. SW
    June 6, 2014 from 7:00 am – 11:00 pm.

    Northside of Martin Luther King Dr. SW between
    Central Ave SW and Washington St. SW
    June 6, 2014 from 7:00 am – 11:00 pm.

    Appropriate traffic control devices will be installed and the City of Atlanta police officers will be on hand to safely enforce these closures and ensure that residential traffic is unimpeded. “

  4. This was for Friday, not sure if back tomorrow or not but something to keep an eye on:

    #Insurgent! ‘Mineral’ signs and movie set located on Hutcheson Ferry Rd in Palmetto, GA

    • Hi! I was wondering if you know if we are allowed on the set? I live 5 hours away but am willing to drive there! Thanks!

        • Ah, I see… hmmm maybe it isn’t worth the long drive then 🙁 I have seen some people posting on Instagram & Twitter pictures of them with the cast and it makes me want to come there!

          • they might be waiting near where they come in and leave and I’m sure you could try that, you ust wont be able to get onto actual set while filming…

  5. Has anyone been able to meet Shai or Theo? (Or Ansel?) I’m considering driving up there next week but want to know my chances first.

  6. There is something filming in downtown Atlanta with the use of zip lines from across a couple buildings. saw them practicing for it today. Insurgent? Taken 3? I’m just not sure. Also there is a show called Satisfaction (USA Network) filming in the Grant Park area.

  7. Yep there are signs downtown. They say: Event: film production. Permit number: 14000472. Dates: 6/11-6/24. They closed peachtree street for a couple minutes around lunch today and people went across the lines.

      • I went Dowtown today and there were signs on Peachtree in front of AmericasMart, just that general area saying that filming would start Monday and it would be from 6 am to 8pm! Just to let you guys know where exactly on Peachtree it was!

  8. Well hey guys! They do stop filming in Serenbe by the end of the week and i was fortunate enough to go down on wednesday..While we didnt get to meet theo or shai or ansel, we met Ben Lloyd-Hughes (Will). Sooo that was great. he was extremely nice and he said that we were the only girls who had actually recognized him. My friend and i had drawings for theo and shai and ansel and we asked him if he could give the drawings to them and he was extremely nice about it and he said he would <3

    Sooo…im currently looking for the next place that they are filming at! ive seen pictures of the mineral signs and plan to eventually go to the place where they are. Sooo ill see!! <3 Let yall know soon!

  9. Ansel is on the plane to london right now. Not sure what for but he has posted on instagram a photo on a plane. And on twitter a few days ago, “see you next week london!”

  10. Yesss, Becca, please let us know what you find! I’ll be in Atlanta from tomorrow to Thursday with my 14yo daughter and we’d love to see anyone from the cast, but especially Theo of course! I’m a YA author and a middle school Language Arts/Creative Writing teacher & when my students asked what I was doing this summer, I told them I’d made it my mission to touch Theo James bicep, only jokingly! But how flipped out would they be if I came back to school with a picture or autograph of him!!

  11. Crew parking and base camp is near the America’s Mart. You can see their production trucks lined up on Williams St and also inside the parking deck. There were a lot of people there this morning when I drove to work, but also quite a few cops patrolling. I’m going to check it out during lunch. Hopefully see them on the zip line. 🙂

      • Sadly no. I saw all of their production trucks and there were a lot of fire trucks nearby. When I left last night they were setting up more equipment right in front of Peachtree Center. I’m guessing they started filming last night or they will start today. I work about a block away so the food court at Peachtree Center is a daily stop. I’ll try again today. It’s not like The Hunger Games where you couldn’t even tell they were filming. You can’t miss this one. There are signs and trucks everywhere!

  12. Ok so i did go down to visit last night. I got to meet Daniel Dae Kim (Jack Kang) – but i knew him from Hawaii 5-0, and i met Keiynan (Uriah). They were both extremely nice! Daniel actually walked over and asked if we wanted pctures.

    I did see theo and shai. Theo waved and gave me a thumbs up, however didnt get out of the car. And shailene didnt get out of the either and i didnt see a wave /:

  13. I went up to the sun dial resturant this afternoon and i could see them setting up to shoot some scenes on top of three different buildings but i did not see any stars yet!!!

  14. Ate at hard rock cafe Saturday june 21st. They shot a scene as soon as it got dark. There were 6 people on zip lines shooting at each other. Made for an interesting night

  15. They are breaking down all of the sets on the rooftops of downtown Atlanta, business district, today. I’m on the 23rd floor at Peachtree Center. Saw them set up the zip lines, as well as all of the smaller “industrial” looking sets on other roofs. I know of three of them. There was nothing fancy about those scenes…. mostly lighting, some rigging, cameras, and location markings. The buildings of Peachtree Center are all identical, built in 1973, and rather generic looking. No matter the angle, the backgrounds will look the same. I know they shot everything at night, because the next morning, all of the equipment would still be there, but be in different places, with covers on the cameras. It will be interesting to see what scenes these will be. I saw them install a set on top of the Marriott Marquis valet parking area (it has a large roof) for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. I saw the shot immediately on the big screen. Interestingly, they didn’t do much CGI work to the buildings in the background. So when we see these scenes for Insurgent, those of us who work here will see our offices in the background. 🙂

  16. If we were to go to the screen gem place, we wouldnt be able to very close would we? We would just be able to drive around it basicaly??

  17. Filming in Marietta St. and Baker St, near the STATS bar. I saw lights, someone who I think is one of the actresses, she was wearing lots of makeup and had police kind of escorting her. She has red hair, couldn’t get a clear glimpse since I was driving. Any idea of which movie they could be filming there?

  18. Annual Peachtree Road Race is on July 4 and there could be 60k people participating. Filming in that area seems like it would be a logistics nightmare on Independence weekend!

  19. The weekend of July 11th my friends and I want to travel to try to catch some of Insurgent being filmed, any idea when they are moving to Chicago or will they still be in Atlanta then?

    • Well they are shooting in Georgia for another two weeks for sure. They said they were filming here for 6 weeks and so far they’ve been here 4 weeks. However, i don’t know when filming in Chicago will begin but i’m sure we will here some news about that soon.

  20. Keiynan (plays Uriah) and emjay (plays Hector) went Rock climbing yesterday. Keiynan tweeted about it while emjay posted a picture replying to his tweet. After some digging, i matched Emjay’s picture with Stone Summit Atlanta rock climbing’s wall.

    Looks like theyre having some fun downtime!!

  21. I’ll be in ATL – Thursday July 10 and Friday July 11. Veronica Roth is making an appearance at Agnes Scott College. Should filming still be taking place at this time? Anyone think some cast might possibly stop by at Veronica’s appearance?

  22. Do you know where else they could be filming this week I heard that the Georgia archives set wrapped today. I wanted to where I should go. Thank you

  23. They have a casting call for wild-looking children to serve as extras for the movie right now. In that, they said that they weren’t looking for prim and proper kids at the time. Does anyone think that means that in the future they will need kids that look well kept?

  24. I’m trying to find some information as to where they will be shooting. I live in Atlanta so i’m going to be looking around a lot for any signs of some sort of filming taking place!! If anyone can give me some tips on where to look, that would be great!

  25. I know right?! I’m pretty sure that they’ll have a casting call soon since they said at the moment. Fingers crossed!

  26. I went and checked out jimmy carter blvd. and they are for sure filming there. I was just wondering how much longer they will be filming on spring street? Does anyone know when they will start the filming in jimmy?

  27. No point in going to the set on Jimmy Carter. Signs that say mineral are very obvious, but you can’t get anywhere near the set. It’s very heavily guarded. I sat outside of the set for about 5 hours today but nothing going on that is visible. They have police surrounding the area.

  28. I took my daughter to Atlanta Saturday, they are filming on McDonough Blvd right next to the Atlanta federal penitentiary at the old GM assembly plant. If you look through the fence you can see the set, booms ect. A really eerie place and it looked cool. Mineral signs were in a few locations when you neared the location.

  29. I went to the U.S. penitentiary today, and we saw a couple of mineral signs. We talked to some people that worked on setting up the sets and they told us that you won’t be able to see anything bein here so there’s really no point in coming to this area, and then told us that they just finished up in Perry, GA. They had trailers sets up and tents, but it was right on the outside of the jail and there was no possible way to get to it since it was on the campus of the prison.

    But we did find the walking dead is, they are filming at The Hurt Building, but filming ends today…

  30. Hey Emily (and anyone else)- I’ll also be at the Veronica Roth book signing at Agnes Scott on July 10th. Filming is definitely still taking place during this time, and even though nothing’s been announced, it’d be weird if no one from the movie visited the author while she’s in Atlanta.

    I’ve lived in the metro Atlanta area for the past 15+ years and I’ve worked in both Downtown and Midtown. Watching all of this stuff unfold is insane. It’s definitely noticeable! On places that are “an hour and a half away,” it might be better to use mileage instead of time. The U.S. Penitentiary is definitely within Atlanta city limits and no more than 30 minutes from other Downtown filming locations. I drive a lot between all of these locations (morning commute), so if you all post any pictures, I’ll be able to tell you where they are 🙂

      • Hi Lily,

        The event was great! Veronica Roth & Marie Lu (author of the Legend series) basically had a dialogue between each other (while taking questions form the audience) about their books and the adventure they had while writing. It was funny, to say the least! Both are very sweet.

        People whose questions were chosen won a signed poster, and people in special seats (chosen by the people staffing the event and unknown to any of the audience members) got a one-on-one conversation with Roth & Lu. All audience members got a pre-signed copy of Four: A Divergent Collection (by Roth, of course; hardcover) and of Legend (by Lu; paperback).

        The only thing bizarre for me that I was probably the oldest person there, haha. Although I’m not quite 25 yet, almost everyone in the audience (if they weren’t a parent or teacher) was below/at 16 years old.

        The cast did not show up, unfortunately. Also, I think they’re wrapping up filming in Atlanta. I haven’t seen any signs for about a week now. :/

  31. So my uncle lives in Atlanta and I asked him to keep an eye out for filming. He said he would if I could give him so specific locations or dates on when and where they are filming in advance. Does anyone know where they’re headed? Thanks(:

  32. Mina: thank you for sharing your experience at the Roth event. Disappointed that the cast could not make it.

    I think they are expected to be in Georgia still. They have filming in the state at least until the 17th according to casting notices. Maybe they are in the studio or filming in another part of the state, just not around Atlanta proper.

  33. I think they were filming south of the city this week. They were looking for folks that could travel 1.5 – 2 hours south. They are still looking for extras to work 7/14 – 7/17 in Atlanta though.

  34. There is something big being filmed tonight on the corner of Peachtree St and Peachtree Place, across the street from Taco Mac. I don’t know if its Insurgent or Walking Dead, seems like way too many trucks for Walking Dead.

    • Thats a lot of trucks for an HBO film. I live in midtown and usually that many trucks are for a bigger project. I have lived here a long time and they use that block constantly, but its usually not that big of a deal. Thanks for the info, though!

  35. A couple of days ago, one of the smaller part actors said that they were filming in the studio. Not sure if it was for just that day or if it was for the whole week. They also said that filming should be completed in September.

  36. Definitely filming going on, in a studio on McDonough blv right now. Mineral signs everywhere pointing to the parking lot of what seems to be “Nash studios 315” we are parked by a church beside the studio watching for more info.

  37. There are yellow signs that say 22D at the entrance to the Yaarab Shrine on Ponce De Leon between Monroe and Arragone. The signs have arrows pointing towards the parking lot of the Shrine. All I could see as I passed by was a semi. This is the 2nd or 3rd time I’ve seen the yellow signs there. I’m guessing they have a really big parking lot behind the building.
    Actually, now that I think about it, there were lots of “Crew” and “to set” signs at the Ve Shalom Synagogue on N. Druid Hills Rd about 2 months ago. I think they have a pretty big parking lot, too. Might be a trend. Or just a coincidence.

  38. Hey everyone I just stopped by Serenbe Community and drove up the set, and I can confirm they are most likely done filming here because the set was struck 🙁 I did see a mineral sign and the place where the Amity big dome was though!

  39. There was a recent casting call for people to work some days in august. So they are definatly still gonna film stuff into late august!

  40. I saw those casting notices, too. It said that extras will be needed to work until August 28th. They might be just being filming inside a sound stage or studio now. It seems all the sites with Mineral signs discovered in June have been used.

  41. Do you guys happen to know where the extra casting call is from? Ive seen a few but none that are recent. Im wondering if im missing any 🙁

  42. Does anyone know where there have been? I feel like things have been quiet. But a bunch of people saw shailene at the airport. I have no idea if her flight was coming in or leaving. I think it would be coming in cause i think she was in north carolina for a while. But i have no news about ansel or theo. If anyone has any, please let us know! 🙂

  43. From Twitter, it looks like they will be filming at the High Museum of Art this week. This looks to be the site of Erudite Headquarters. It also makes sense because the casting notices were calling for Erudite looking extras needed for August 25th filming.

  44. There is definitely Something going on at the norcross location. Drove by today. Bluescreen stil set up and new cranes are there. A saw a woman drive past on a golf cart so its not empty. However, this location is very enclosed. Not much security but i didnt try to get it. Too scared lol xD

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    it’s new to me. Anyhow, I’m certainly happy I stumbled upon it and I’ll be book-marking it and checking back often!

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