50 Cent Eyes Are Hazel Now?

Well they are until he finishes his latest movie project Gun, he sat down and talked about how excited he was to be filming it in  Grand Rapids Press: GRAND RAPIDS — Rapper, actor, producer and businessman 50 Cent, a.k.a Curtis Jackson, has his eye on Grand Rapids. And he has more than mere pocket change invested in “Gun,” the latest movie to be filmed in the city starring Val Kilmer, 50 Cent, AnnaLynne McCord, Charles Malik Whitfield, Hassan Johnson and Lala Vasquez. Jackson wrote the script for the under-$3-million movie he is helping to produce with his partner, Randall Emmett, of their production company Cheetah Vision Films. Also producing the film is George Furla, as well as Richard Jackson of Action Jackson Films.
Curtis Jackson and Emmett also plan to shoot “a minimum” of three films in the state in 2010.

“It’s one of my biggest accomplishments, obviously. I wrote, produced it and I’m actually acting in the project. So this is exciting for me,” Jackson told the Press in an exclusive interview Monday, the second day of shooting.

Filming began at 6:30 a.m. Sunday at Cocktailz Bar & Grill, 1001 Chicago Drive SW in Wyoming, and wrapped up Monday at 7:30 p.m.

The local bar will be featured in the film — based in Detroit, but filmed in Grand Rapids — as the main hangout for Jackson and his gang. (Off the set, Jackson enjoys eating at the Chop House in downtown Grand Rapids, he said.)
Jackson said he picked Grand Rapids over any other location thanks to his week-long experience filming “Caught in the Crossfire” in May.

“I liked that it was quiet. Last time I was out here, for ‘Crossfire,’ it was really quiet. I was comfortable and able to focus on the actual project because of that. New York city is rough because so many people are conscious of everything that I do,” he said. “I’m in a scene and they want me to sign a piece a paper or take a picture in the middle of the scene. It’s like, ‘I can’t!’ And they don’t understand that.”

The film’s plot, which has morphed over time, focuses on the lucrative gun industry amid a recession-burdened economy.

“Initially when I started the plot, it was a socially conscious story about how guns go from the manufacturing point to retail and purchased by law-abiding citizens and how they fall into the wrong hands. And what made it interesting and so relevant … was the fact that companies like Smith & Wesson are up 125 percent in sales in the middle of a recession.”

The cast, which originally was focused on Kilmer and Jackson, has evolved to feature numerous other characters. But Jackson did appeal to only one Hollywood star for one of the main roles.

He asked Val Kilmer, who read the script, liked it, and said yes to the film the next day.

“I passed the Val Kilmer test,” Jackson said, grinning.

“When he read the script, he said, ‘Yo, this is good. You wrote this?’ He was surprised that I did it,” Jackson said.

Filming will take place at 11 locations throughout the city. Emmett (“Righteous Kill,” “Day of the Dead,” “Rambo,” “88 Minutes”) said stock footage of the Detroit skyline might be used for cutaway shots. The film will be released to theaters in the fall of 2010. He also is planning a local premiere.
For Emmett, the city was an obvious choice because of Michigan’s film incentives, but also because Grand Rapids is full of diversity and efficient for movie making.

The director, Jessy Terrero (producer of Jackson’s music videos and “Soul Plane”), found all of his locations in two weeks when it otherwise takes a month or more.

“When you get a chance to have a state that’s offering up to 42 percent, I think it’s irresponsible for you not to do whatever you can to bring a movie to a place like this,” Emmett said. “You create a lot of jobs for people. You help offset the bottom line.

“I enjoy that the (Grand Rapids) airport is 10 minutes from everywhere,” Emmett said. “I love that it’s isolated, so the crew really bonds. The cast really has a good experience. Everyone focuses on the work. And the city is extremely supportive. So it just makes it easy to make a film.”

Emmett is getting ready to help film a remake of “Conan the Barbarian” with George Furla in February. It will be a “gigantic budgeted film” it will be filmed in 85 days with a crew of 200.

“Gun,” comparatively, can’t compare on a budget scale, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy.

“On a movie like this, I’m here every day. I’ll be there from morning to night with everybody, ’cause if anything goes wrong, it’s catastrophic on a movie like this.

“I put more work into this movie than I have in a lot of movies in a long time, because this is really important, and it’s important to 50.”