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OPINION

Galifianakis movie to film in downtown Asheville

Carol Motsinger
cmotsinger@citizen-times.com
Movie set in Swannanoa. It appears to be related to the "Untitled Armored Car."

If you spot Owen Wilson and Kristen Wiig downtown next week, they might not just be enjoying the bars, restaurants or live music scene.

They might be working.

The two actors have been spotted around town in July since filming began for the "Untitled Armored Car Project" July 7, first in Swannanoa, before heading to Waynesville and other locations around Asheville.

The comedy crew will film driving scenes for the movie from 9 a.m-4 p.m. July 30 in downtown Asheville, according to permits from the City of Asheville.

The shoot will be for a driving scene in the movie, which is based on the real-life story of the $17.3 million cash robbery of the regional vault of Loomis Fargo & Company in Charlotte in 1997.

The vehicles will drive east, then west, on Broadway, the permits say. The camera car and the "towed picture vehicle" — which I think just means the car you will see in the movie — will be prepped at Pack Square and then escorted to Broadway.

Asheville will also get to see a bit of the technology behind movie magic: The scene requires a rigged camera car and platform that will tow the movie vehicle. There is also a camera crane, the permits say, that will swing outside the vehicles to film the side shots of actors "driving."

The movie shoot will require full-barricaded closures with Asheville Police Department help, as well as intermittent traffic control with assistance from the Asheville Police Department, according to a location map from the City of Asheville.

Site closures and lane closures will begin in the early morning July 29. There will also be a location set and intermittent traffic control on Riverside from Craven/Haywood to Hill from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. July 30.

The heist, which was largest cash robbery in the United States at the time, was organized by an armored car driver and vault supervisor.

The film will also feature comedians Ken Marino (best known for "Wet Hot American Summer" and the series, "Party Down" and "Eastbound and Down"), Mary Elizabeth Ellis (of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia") and Devin Ratray (of "Nebraska").

It's also been reported that Jason Sudeikis (a "Saturday Night Live" alumnus who recently starred in "We're the Millers") will join the cast as a hit man.

The film is slated to be released in August 2015.