A major movie production is in Austin. Crews shut down part of E. 9th Street Thursday morning for the filming.
They're getting the stretch of road ready for the filming of the Coen brothers' latest film -- the remake of the John Wayne film, True Grit.
Production teams have to make E. 9th Street look like a road in Memphis, Tennessee from the early 1900’s.
They are assembling a building frame that will serve as the establishing shot for when one of the characters arrives in Memphis.
“You want to build something so that it doesn't look like Austin, Texas. This is supposed to be Memphis so we're just adding a couple of things to make it look like it's a little bit different than downtown Austin,” said Ward.
The historic Austin Club building sits across the street from the temporary set. It will also be used in the film. Crews are taking away modern supplies including fans and light fixtures.
They're also painting away the stripes in the road so that it will appear more like a dirt road. People in downtown Austin are stopping to watch it unfold.
“It's pretty interesting But actually where we work, we work right across the street from an empty lot where they do a lot of filming over there so we're kind of used to it, but still it's interesting to see,” said Sallie Christian-Carnal who works in Downtown Austin.
The Texas Film Commission say the crew also has plans to film in the East wing of the Capitol building. It will stand in as the Memphis train station in the movie.
The filming began on Thursday and lasts through Friday evening.
During that time, the entire stretch of E. 9th Street from Congress Avenue down to Brazos Street will remain closed from 5 a.m. Thursday until 11 p.m. Friday. An alley just East of Congress between E. 8th and 10th streets is also closed for production.
Austin police officers are at the barricades to help detour traffic. Alternate routes include 7th Street eastbound or 11th Street both east and west bound.
This is the last bit of filming for True Grit. Taping began in Granger; then moved to Blanco and wraps up in downtown Austin.
The film is expected to release in December. It stars Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and Josh Brolin.
