Michael Bay Not Allowed To Blow Up Pennsylvania Ave For Transformers 3

Michael Bay Not Allowed To Blow Up Pennsylvania Ave For Transformers 3

By Russ Fischer/June 9, 2010 7:52 am EST

The Washington Post says the production had scheduled 14 days of shooting in the city, with quite a bit of prep and wrap time associated with those active days, but is now scaling back that schedule because the National Park Service isn’t game for some of the stuff the producers want to do.

Like what? A spokesperson for the Park service says producers “have asked to do some things that simply are not done on the National Mall,” including shooting a car race or chase scene on the Mall’s gravel paths. “A lot of this could be more appropriately shot in a Hollywood studio,” he said. “The National Mall is not an area in which Americans come to see high-tech action movies being shot.”

Then there are the “simulated explosions and pyrotechnics” on Pennsylvania and Independence Avenues. Can’t the gov’t just lock it up for a couple hours while Bay pretends to blow stuff up? Maybe this would work: disguise the shoot as a Tea Party rally.

The film will shoot in DC, but for how long? Paramount spokesperson Gabriela Gutentag said of the schedule, “we’ve gone from two weeks to 10 days to three days to seven days; I don’t really know.”