It’s shaping up to be a blockbuster year for CLE on screen. Here are the drops we’re hot for and the ones we’ll Netflix and chill.
My Friend Dahmer
2017
Based on Richfield author and illustrator John “Derf” Backderf’s graphic novel, this hair-raising movie captures Jeffrey Dahmer as a troubled teen. Shedding the Past: The movie was filmed in the serial killer’s childhood home in Bath Township. The shed where the teen conducted experiments on roadkill was rebuilt in its original spot.
Fast 8
April 14
We’re revving up for this installment to see how those high-flying stunts shot in Cleveland last summer — especially cars launched from the Halle Building garage — play out. Blown Away: More than 200 cars were destroyed during the three weeks Cleveland served as a backdrop for New York City in May and June.
First They Killed My Father Netflix, 2017
Based on the memoir by Clevelander Loung Ung, this film captures the harrowing story of her time as a child soldier under the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia and Ung’s escape. Plus, Hollywood heroine Angelina Jolie is calling the shots as co-writer and director. Family Ties: Jolie’s 15-year-old son, Maddox, returns to the country where he was born for his first significant on-screen role.
The Bye Bye Man
Jan. 13
We’re stoked to see this heart-pounding horror flick about young adults who discover an evil entity out to possess them. Train Wreck: Filmed at Greenwood Farm (see below), it features a head-on collision between Jenna Kanell and a Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad train where she runs toward the tracks and is struck (a dummy, actually) at 30 mph.
Fist Fight
Feb. 17
When Ice Cube and Charlie Day throw down in an after-school battle royale, who are they going to call? Our money is on Shaker Heights native Kym Whitley, who makes a cameo as a 911 operator advising Day to “take that ass whoopin.” Spotted: Photos reveal Tracy Morgan is returning to the big screen for the first time since his near-fatal accident in 2014 as an athletic coach turned sensei.
Little Evil
Netflix, 2017
An abandoned church near East 67th Street and Superior Avenue doubles as a nunnery where a cult attempts to open the mouth of hell in this horror-comedy that stars Adam Scott and Evangeline Lilly as parents to the Antichrist. Hell on Set: A crew created the path to hell by ripping up the second floor of the church and filling it with insulation spray and paint to mimic molten rocks.
Transformers: The Last Knight June 23
Michael Bay’s film sounds like a chaotic junkyard that combines its predecessors’ worn out explosive action with Nazis, medieval warfare and Dinobots. The upside: 15-year-old Cleveland native Isabela Moner makes her blockbuster debut as an orphan girl opposite Mark Wahlberg and Anthony Hopkins. Teenage Wasteland: Early photos and videos show Moner riding on the back of a Vespa — a possible mini-Dinobot.
Sandy Wexler
Netflix, 2017
How could you not have famed talk show host and Cleveland native Arsenio Hall in a ‘90s flick that sees Adam Sandler as a Los Angeles talent manager responsible for raising up a ragtag crew of oddball hopefuls? Throwback Thursday: This is Hall’s first film since exiting Hollywood in 2009. Although his role is kept under wraps, it’s been reported he’s likely to play himself. Cue the shoulder pads and flattop haircut.
