Peter Berg’s newly directed film, “Patriots Day,” was released across the nation on Martin Luther King Jr. Day after a limited release in Boston, New York, and Los Angeles on December 21. What many people do not know is that many of the scenes were filmed within 10 miles of Eastern Nazarene College.
The film is based on the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing and follows the traumatic incidents surrounding that event. Mark Wahlberg leads an all-star cast featuring JK Simmons and Kevin Bacon, as the movie aims to commemorate the resilience of the city and the dedication of the first responders.
Residents in Watertown, the city in which the Tsarnaev brothers engaged in a shoot-out with police took place, did not approve of filming the scenes on location. This resulted in these scenes being filmed on a recreated set.
Development company L Star has been renting portions of its abandoned naval airbase in Weymouth to major movie productions for filming purposes. In addition to the Watertown shoot-out scenes, much of Patriot’s Day’s bomb scenes were filmed on a movie set, also, recreating the finish line at Boylston Street at this airbase.
The production crew and actors spent weeks in this temporary studio shooting a large portion of the action scenes displayed throughout the movie. For ENC students interested in visiting the set of Patriot’s Day, it is open to the public during the daytime at Weymouth’s Union Point development.
Boylston Street replica at Weymouth’s Union Point development. (Photo by Niki Ghosh)
Shootout scene film set. (Photo by Niki Ghosh)
Patriots Day set in Weymouth. (Photo by Niki Ghosh)