Hollywood film crew arrives in Milton…and you might see stars

A Hollywood movie crew that has been working in Mississauga and Hamilton has quietly been preparing Milton for its next sequence of film shoots.

The movie, written, produced and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, reportedly stars Josh Hartnett and singer Saleka, who happens to be Shyamalan’s daughter.

Shyamalan has been a successful Hollywood filmmaker since his 1999 breakthrough The Sixth Sense which starred Bruce Willis and earned Academy Award nominations. He followed that up with Unbreakable (2000), Signs (2002) and The Village (2004), all box office successes, before falling out of favour with audiences for a long stretch. Shyamalan has since re-emerged with a string of recent hits such as The Visit (2015), Split (2016), Glass (2019), Old (2021), and Knock at the Cabin (2023).

M. Night Shyamalan

His latest venture, which appears to have two working titles, Good Grades or Trap, again finds Shyamalan exploring familiar territory.

“It’s a thriller. It’s very unusual and very new compared to what I’ve been trying to do [recently], but I’m feeling very excited about the story… (it) might be something that you’ve seen before but the angle is very, very unique – the point of view,” he told the British entertainment journal NME.

Josh Hartnett

Hartnett has been a regular on the big screen since his debut in 1998 in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, followed by roles in  The Faculty (1998), Pearl Harbor (2002), 30 Days of Night (2007), Target Number One (2020) and Oppenheimer (2023).

Saleka is also currently promoting her recent album Seance.

Saleka

As part of the filming, there will be some downtown disruption.

This is what is going to happen, according to the Downtown Milton Business Improvement Area (BIA):

• From Thursday, Nov. 16 to Saturday, Nov. 19 film crews will be doing preparation work downtown from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• On Monday, Nov. 20 and Tuesday, Nov. 21 filming will take place downtown starting at 4 p.m. and carrying over until 6 a.m. the next morning.
• Wednesday, Nov. 22 will see the wrap-up of the set take place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Of note, Main St. E. between Charles St. and James St. will be closed on Monday, Nov. 20 and Tuesday, Nove. 21 from 4 p.m. to 6 a.m. Halton police will be on-site during this time to help facilitate the road closure. The filming will include a mock SWAT team with deactivated weapons.

As well, the film crew will have reserved street segments and parking lots on Wednesday, Nov. 17 at noon with vehicles arriving on Thursday, Nov. 18. These vehicles will be departing on Friday, Nov. 22 before 10 a.m. Areas affected will be both sides of Main St. E. between Charles St. and James St., the Milton Fairgrounds and various other municipal and private lots and streets.

While there is no guarantee any of the stars will be present in Milton, the town’s recent track record of celebrity sightings has been pretty good. In  2020 during the filming of The Man from Toronto stars Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson were spotted regularly and were often seen chatting with fans.