Parts of Aberdeen are to be transformed into Soviet-era Russia later this month as part of a Hollywood movie.
Peterhead-born director Jon S Baird is taking the cast and crew of Tetris – including Rocketman star Taron Egerton – to his home turf as filming continues on the big-budget movie.
The film – which tells the story of the groundbreaking computer game’s creation in the 1980s – will see a number of roads around the city closed, including the area around the Gallowgate’s Seamount Court.
Egerton, who plays Dutch video game designer Henk Rogers, will be in the Granite City for the filming, which is due to last for around a week, from February 19.
He said: “I’ve got a real desire to put Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire on the map as a filming location. I really want to light the fuse in a way to start seeing big productions coming here.
“We’d be up in the city for a good week-and-a-half to two weeks and we’d be bringing money to the economy because the crew for something like this is about 300 people and we’d need to put them up in hotels and feed them.”
The shoot, which is currently under way in Glasgow and is adhering to strict coronavirus rules, is being funded by tech giant Apple and produced by film director Matthew Vaughn’s Marv Films.
Morrison Street in Glasgow was transformed into a Soviet street for the movie, complete with vintage cars and military signage.
It’s understood the Aberdeen locations will also double for the Soviet Union in the film, which dives into the legal battles and intrigue surrounding the creation of the landmark video game.
Aberdeen City Council culture spokeswoman Councillor Marie Boulton said: “It’s fantastic that Jon Baird, who is from the north-east, is coming back to Aberdeen to film part of his new movie here.
“We welcome film companies to Aberdeen as part of the diversification of the city’s economy.”
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