CLEVELAND — Lights, camera, action.
The City of Cleveland is ready for its closeup as film crews have been hard at work turning Superior Avenue Downtown from a modern Cleveland to an older Metropolis, which also happens to be the mythical home of Superman, hearkening back to an era when storefronts with awnings and merchants in aprons dominated the Downtown scene of cities across the country.
"I think it's amazing it doesn't look like Cleveland anymore," said Jim Brewer of Bay Village, who stopped by for a look. Yes, word of the conversion, most notably the re-branding of the Leader Building as the Daily Planet, the newspaper where Clark Kent worked, had folks taking pictures throughout the day.
Mild-mannered reporter @KosichJohn swung by the Leader Building in Downtown Cleveland this morning and spotted this iconic gem outside "The Daily Planet." The rest of the world will get its chance to see it in the Superman Genesis movie. pic.twitter.com/eLRq7k5cpo
— News 5 Cleveland (@WEWS) June 20, 2024
"I think it's super cool. I've been a fan of Superman for a long time and it's cool seing like the Daily Planet stuff out here in Cleveland, it's awesome," said Ethan Hansen, a student at Case Western.
There's a certain symmetry to the choice of the Leader Building as the home of the most famous comic book newspapers. That's because it was built in 1913 to be the home of the Cleveland Leader, one of the city's first major newspapers. The connection most people appreciate, though, is the most obvious: the fact the superhero was created here by Glenville natives Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in 1933.
Crews started converting Downtown building facades to look like Metropolis last week.
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"I mean, Superman being from Cleveland is something that not many people know I feel like, but it's cool that we get to actually shoot his movie here," said Ian McMichael of Streetsboro.
If you work or live Downtown, know that the movie shoot will mean some road closures, with Superior Avenue closed to all traffic between Public Square and East 6th Street on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The same holds true for a stretch of East 3rd Street from Superior to Rockwell. Then, on Tuesday, Lakeside Avenue will shut down in front of City Hall from E. Mall Drive to East 9th Street. Additional closings will be announced as needed.
Back on Superior, movie staffers put out signs reminding customers that though the storefronts have changed, the regular businesses inside are still open.
"Seems to be working out pretty well for us," said Sean Doyle, operations manager at Ohio City Burrito. "A lot of people are coming to see what the new buildings are, the Daily Planet and we're actually the Wounded Duck so it seems to be helping us honestly."
Tyrone Webb was one of those stopping by Wednesday. He's in the know when it comes to Cleveland movie shoots and not just the obvious ones.
"White Noise, Shooting Stars, Lost and Found Cleveland which hasn't came out yet," he said. "I was a background actor for some of those films."
So, did he put into being an extra on this?
"I did, we'll see," he said.
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