If we haven't given you enough ideas on what to do this weekend, how about hanging out at the Chronicle looking for famous people? From an email sent to Chronicle staff earlier this week:
Those of you working in and around the downtown building for the next two weeks will see some activity on the part of a movie crew as they prep for shooting of their film on Sunday, September 18, and Sunday, September 25. Their interest in shooting exterior shots of The Chronicle, as well as our mail room entrance and a building we own on Minna Street, stems from the topic of the movie: the Zodiac killer case. The movie, tentatively called "Chronicles," is being produced by Warner Bros. They've recreated our newsroom and other interiors down in the Los Angeles area, but they are in need of some exterior shots. You may have noticed the new San Francisco Chronicle sign on the building over Minna. That was paid for in its entirety by Warner Bros. They will be shooting on the two Sundays, but will begin prep work in some areas as early as Tuesday, Sept. 13.
Maybe Ruthe Stein didn't know that they'd be shooting at the Chron (and paying for it) when she wrote her piece last Friday, otherwise we're sure she would have disclosed the Chronicle's financial interest in the film in her article . Our non-Stein sources tell us that not only has there been none of the "prep work" referenced in the email as of yet, but that they suspect that the exteriors will all be second unit stuff with no stars (Robert Downey Jr. still counts as a star, right?) in the area.
Has anyone heard otherwise? Are Jake Gyllenhaal (who plays Robert Graysmith, the Chronicle cartoonist who wrote the film on which the movie is based) or Robert Downey Jr. (who plays police reporter Paul Avery, who we bet will get to say "he's toying with us!" completely non-ironically) in town this weekend and, if so, has anyone seen them? As much as we admire Gawker we've never felt the urge to rip them off until now, but, folks, we're feeling the need for some Zodiac Stalker dirt. You got any? Let us know in the comments! (Oh, If you're the Zodiac Killer and you read this, can we please direct your attention away from us and toward Frank Vega? Just sayin'.)