Jumper begs the question... Can you rent the Colosseum?

Doug Liman's space shifting thriller Jumper was given unprecedented access last month to shoot a couple of scenes in the Colosseum in Rome. In the past, Italy has been very protective of their historic landmark. Only a handful films have been granted permission to film there, something that even Ridley Scott's epic Gladiator wasn't allowed. The three day shoot was said to have involved a pivotal love scene between Hayden Christensen and Rachel Blison. Here is a snippet from a very interesting article at the New York Times... No props. No lights. Not even a video cart was permitted to touch the ground. But Mr. Liman, his actors and a small crew from the science fiction thriller "Jumper"€” granted unprecedented access even to the amphitheater€™s labyrinthine guts, where gladiators and doomed beasts once waited €” were to shoot their pivotal love scene on a stage that still belongs more to the dead than the living. The full article is well worth a read, my favourite line being from producer Lucas Foster... €œWe were originally interested in the Pantheon. And we were like, €˜Oh my God, can you rent the Pantheon? Can you rent the Colosseum?€™ € Jumper is of course the film adaptation of a Steven Gould novel which we have spoke about many times on this site before so I won't go into the plot again. Of course it was just last year that Ron Howard was given access to use the Louvre to shoot scenes for The Da Vinci Code. Are museums and those in charge of historic landmarks becoming a bit more flexible in terms of letting films in to shoot? It only makes sense really, The hype around not only the book but the film aswell for The Da Vinci Code must have generated millions for the Lourve and I can tell you from my own experience when I visited the museum earlier this year... there was merchandise and guides linked with the film everywhere. You could take Jean Reno headphones and listen to one of the stars of the movie talk while you walk around the different sites and artifacts linked with the book and movie. I can't help but think the success for the Louvre must have been a factor in letting Jumper shoot scenes in the Colosseum. I would expect more historic sites and landmarks to do the same in the future. source - rope of silicon, new york times