A movie called San Andreas starring Dwayne “The Rock’’ Johnson, Kylie Minogue (!), and Alexandra Daddario is set to begin shooting in San Francisco later this month, and already some neighbors in tony Russian Hill and merchants at Fisherman's Wharf are grumbling about it and asking that film permits be rescinded.

C.W. Nevius has chimed in, as is his wont on such NIMBY topics, saying, "Cities across the country are falling all over themselves to woo movie and television productions... In San Francisco? We're thinking about it."

The film crew is intending to shut down a big section of Jefferson Street at Fisherman's Wharf next Tuesday (7/15) and Wednesday (7/16), obviously to get some picturesque shots of crowds in one of San Francisco's most recognizable areas, but merchants started flipping out after members of the crew began leafleting the neighborhood before all the permits were signed and delivered. The shoot did get permitted, with a slightly scaled back schedule, but not before the Film Commission got flooded with angry phone calls.

Following that, there will be shoots with 300 to 400 extras on Hyde Street in Russian Hill, and a section of Greenwich Street might be involved too. Streets in the area will be closed on July 22, and maybe again on July 25.

Can we talk about how weird and meta it will be if this movie about a major California earthquake comes out shortly before or after an actual major California earthquake? Because we're due, you know.

The plot, according to IMDB, involves "a rescue-chopper pilot [who] makes a dangerous journey across the state in order to rescue his estranged daughter" in the wake of a massive earthquake.

But, of course, it's too expensive to shoot an entire movie in California, so besides these few days of location shooting, the majority of the film is being shot in Australia. You can blame high union wages, in part, for that.

[Nevius/Chron]
[SFGate]