Filming wraps in Capital City on action thriller starring Bruce Willis

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Production crews set the stage for the final shots on the film starring Bruce Willis on Friday. Downtown Jackson and many locations around the city were backdrops with explosion, car chases and locals working in and behind the scenes.

It’s nearly a wrap for filming on the action thriller A Day to Die starring Bruce Willis. Hawkins Field Airport is the setting for the movie’s finale.

“It’s our last day, let’s have some fun,” said film producer Curtis Nichouls while organizing the crew in the airport parking lot. The Jackson filmmaker said fighting to have the movie set and shot in Jackson created more opportunities.

“Bruce Willis, he was only here for four days but he absolutely fell in love with Jackson and he wants to do his film this summer here in Jackson,” said Nichouls. “They spoke to me about a week ago and asked me if I would be willing to produce another film for Bruce and would he be welcomed here in Jackson, and I was like everybody loves him here. Come on!”

“This is our, I think, sixth week total being in Jackson. It’s been an awesome experience,” said A Day to Die writer/director Wes Miller.

The nearly $5 million dollar action thriller about a family and a bank heist was written by Miller.

“Your setting can either make or break a film and so when we were making a decision to come here, just the lush landscape and urban richness of Jackson really just pulled us in and kept us here,” said Miller.

Mississippi Film Commission Director Nina Parikh said A Day to Die was the first film shot in Jackson in 2021. The agency worked with the film company for more than a year before cameras began rolling.

Parikh expects more filming to be scattered throughout the year in the Jackson area.

Since July 2020, the state has hosted 13 productions, utilizing the Mississippi Motion Picture Incentive Program which is a cash rebate. Sweet Unknown South Studios plans to film a horror movie and western in Jackson before year’s end.

A Day to Die is scheduled for release in February 2022.

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