HBO Returns To Elburn on Friday (Aug. 24) to Shoot ‘Lovecraft Country’
Crews set up for shooting of Lovecraft Country in Elburn. (CREDIT: village of Elburn, Nick Sikora)
A little piece of Hollywood returns this week to Elburn — one setting for the production of Lovecraft Country, a new series aiming for HBO in 2019.
We’ve had our share of motion pictures and TV shows shot here in Kane County, of course, from Superman in Sugar Grove to Road To Perdition in Geneva, just to name a few.
That same little thrill will be back on Friday Aug. 24, when Random Productions (HBO) returns to Elburn to film additional scenes for Lovecraft Country. The crew had been shooting in Elburn back in late July.
Local Logistics
As part of this filming, Main Street (IL Route 47) will once again be closed to through traffic, according to an Elburn Police Department news release. The closure will be from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Elburn Police Chief Nick Sikora
“We are using a later morning closing to allow work and school traffic to pass through,” Elburn Police Chief Nick Sikora said. “Access to local businesses and residences will be allowed during the closure. However, you should expect some small delays.”
A marked detour route will be posted and will use Anderson Road as the detour via either IL Route 38 on the north and Keslinger Road on the south.
“We have included the Kaneland School District in the planning meetings for this round of filming as it could affect some of the afternoon bus routes,” Sikora said. “At this time we are planning a break in the filming to accommodate the school bus routes and to allow the neighborhood children to get home from their bus stops prior to filming resuming.”
More Good News
Logistics aside, it’s also good to see Elburn on the cutting edge of social commentary and what could be an HBO success story.
Director Yann Demange
Director Yann Demange is officially on board to executive produce and direct the first episode of hour-long drama Lovecraft Country.
The series, which is based on Matt Ruff’s 2016 novel, follows Atticus Black as he joins up with his friend Letitia and his Uncle George to embark on a road trip across 1950s Jim Crow America in search of his missing father, according to an HBO news release.
“What follows is a struggle to survive and overcome both the racist terrors of white America and the terrifying monsters that could be ripped from an H.P. Lovecraft paperback,” HBO says.
Brilliant, Wondrous And Disturbing
H.P. Lovecraft is the disturbing part.
Lovecraft is known to be a terrific writer, but he’s also known to be a racist. That’s the issue — and the horror — that “Lovecraft Country” is addressing.
The book, written by critically acclaimed cult novelist Matt Ruff, “makes visceral the terrors of life in Jim Crow America and its lingering effects in this brilliant and wondrous work of the imagination that melds historical fiction, pulp noir, and Lovecraftian horror and fantasy,” Goodreads says in its synopsis of the book.
Big Names Galore
Jordan Peele
Jordan Peele, who most recently won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Get Out will be executive producing the series through his company Monkey Paw Productions, alongside J.J. Abrams and Ben Stephenson of Bad Robot Productions and Warner Bros. Television.
Misha Green (Underground) joins the team as both a writer and executive producer of the series.
There are a lot of big names, talented artists and powerhouse producers in that merry band.
Series Cast
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Elizabeth Debicki | … | Christina Braithwhite 4 episodes, 2019 |
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Aunjanue Ellis | … | Hippolyta Black 4 episodes, 2019 |
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Jonathan Majors | … | Atticus Black 4 episodes, 2019 |
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Wunmi Mosaku | … | Ruby Dandridge 4 episodes, 2019 |
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Jurnee Smollett-Bell | … | Letitia Dandridge 4 episodes, 2019 |
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Courtney B. Vance | … | George Black 4 episodes, 2019 |
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Jason Ambrose | … | Deputy Jimmy 1 episode, 2019 |
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Jamie Harris | … | Sheriff Eustace Hunt 1 episode, 2019 |
SOURCE: HBO, IMDb, Goodreads, Village of Elburn
