I received a CRAZY e-mail this morning from Platinum Dunes producer Brad Fuller, who had a terrifying experience on the set of their latest film, The Unborn, which is currently shooting in Chicago, IL. Under the watch of writer-director David Goyer, the team was shooting a scene involving an exorcism, when an earthquake hit! Read on for the insane story...
Platinum Dunes producer Brad Fuller e-mails us from Chicago with an amazing story:
"Greetings from Chicago - a wonderful place to make a movie and terrifying place to have an exorcism.
I am here shooting "The Unborn," which was born in David Goyer's brain and is being skillfully directed by him. Tonight we are shooting one of the climatic scenes in the film in which Gary Oldman and Idris Elba are conducting an exorcism. We are shooting on location at an old abandoned chapel with cracked stained glass windows, peeling paint and ruptured floors. The place feels like it belongs in a World War 2 aftermath scene.
Now before I go on, I want to remind you that I have shot films in unsettling places before. I am convinced that the house we shot the “Amityville Horror” in was haunted and the Hewitt House from “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” had a total of nine people die in it - all by "natural causes" - or so I was told. But I digress. So tonight we are shooting this scene -- it's 3:30 in the morning and we are all exhausted. Lights are flickering, wind is blowing and Gary Oldman is trying to be heard above all the chaos. It feels so real that those of us seated in front of the monitors were freaked out and thrilled at the same time. Goyer painstakingly recreated this exorcism rite from the Old Testament. The words Gary Oldman is saying are directly from the Old Testament and since we are running the scene all the way thru in each take, I found myself completely wrapped up in the scene. For a second I forgot we were filming a movie, and then the room started to shake... I am not screwing around here, the room shook, chandeliers swayed, and our 25 foot long lighting balloon exploded - sending shards of glass raining down!
Chicago, along with neighboring cities throughout Illinois and Indiana, were experienced the second largest earthquake in the history of these parts.
Now you can say that it’s a coincidence that we had a 5.2 magnitude earthquake while shooting our exorcism scene - but when you finally see the scene, you’ll know why the actors look so freaked out, and why am writing this blog from the safety of a particularly hardy doorway."
Now that's a crazy story! Odette Yustman, Gary Oldman, Cam Gigandet, Meagan Good, Carla Gugino, Jane Alexander, Idris Elba, Rhys Coiro and James Remar all star in the film written and directed by David Goyer.
The psychological thriller follows an 18-year-old who is haunted by a Dybbuk - the soul of a dead person barred from heaven - in the form of a young boy who perished in Auschwitz.
The tremors of that quake woke me and I immediately thought of The Exorcist when I felt my bed shaking. When the whole building was shaking, I was somewhat relieved that the cause was natural and not supernaturally directed at me.
Oh for christ sakes... Well now we know what these guys will say on Jay Leno and during the press interviews. Yeah it was no cowinkidink. It was all you, Brad and Co... Pfffftttthpp. What's more important.. Did anyone die when this happened? Oh wait who am I kidding thats not news...
cool story, glad there was nothing to serious happened to anyone. hope they use it in the dvd. this movie sounds awesome ill have to check this one out.
What a attention whore. Really now, he tries to make a earthquake sound like some bad omen for this movie, took him long enough to come up with the gag for it, quake was a week ago.
Well...whoa! I'm shocked! I of course don't believe it has anything to do with the exorcism scene....but whoa! An earthquake in chicago during the filming of a scene. I'm also surprised they're actually going to use it in the final cut of the movie. I'm also surprised and grateful that the earthquake didn't mess up the filming or anything! Whoa! I bet its very hard staying in character when you're acting and there's an earthquake...I'm sort of surprised they didn't cancel the filming that day. Also, I can't wait to see that movie even more now, Gary Oldman....he's brilliant in general....but in a horror movie...oh yea! I can't wait! I bet the movie is gooooooooooood!
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I am here shooting "The Unborn," which was born in David Goyer's brain and is being skillfully directed by him. Tonight we are shooting one of the climatic scenes in the film in which Gary Oldman and Idris Elba are conducting an exorcism. We are shooting on location at an old abandoned chapel with cracked stained glass windows, peeling paint and ruptured floors. The place feels like it belongs in a World War 2 aftermath scene. 
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