This Utah city prepares for large movie production with crew members already landing

The blockbuster movie that’s been under wraps for months is finally a week away from filming and it’s one of the largest productions the City of Moab has seen in its history.

Moab will be the only location in the country the movie, with a working title of “Zeus,” will be filmed. The rest of the film will be shot in Australia, London and Mexico City.

“Moab was selected not only for its beautiful landscapes but they loved … the look of the town,” producer Leann Emmert said.

Bega Metzner, Moab to Monument Valley Film commissioner, said this was originally supposed to be a small project that is now considered a blockbuster. Financial impacts won’t be finalized until after filming wraps up, but Metzner suspects the movie could bring in $2.5 to $3.5 million in a local economic impact.

There are 2,060 rooms on hold for production. Lodging alone is bringing in $534,000.

The production team has already been flying in from Australia. There are about 150 crew members who are from Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, London and Australia with roughly 20 of those being locals.

One film producer, Eric McLeod, who was born and grew up in Moab, advocated for the film to hire locally. McCleod has worked on blockbuster hits such as “The Cat in the Hat,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” and “Austin Powers.”

Production held a casting call earlier this month with 180 local residents auditioning and 70 being selected.

Major road closures will occur July 30, the day of filming. Closures of Highway 191 will start on 500 West at 5 a.m. Southbound drivers will be directed to take Kane Creek Boulevard to return to the highway south of downtown and northbound drivers will detour at Kane Creek Boulevard to 500 West . Metzner expects roads to reopen by noon.

While filming, there will be drones flying over downtown to capture people running on the street.

All residents and businesses who are impacted have been notified and will be given further information.

Other films this year

Moab has seen a total of three productions, besides “Zeus,” this year. In total, these films brought $1.25 million to the city.

Blockbuster “Wild Horse 9” is set to be released in 2026 but was filmed earlier this year in La Sal at a private residence and in Monument Valley. Similar to “Zeus,” Moab is the only location they filmed in in the country.

An AT&T commercial was also filmed in Moab in March that spent $90,000 in lodging and spent $500,000 at the local level.

A smaller scale project, “Exploring the Unknown” season two, will give Moab international visibility once it airs. Production for this project spent $1,260 in lodging and made a local impact of $25,000.

An upcoming project Metzner teased at the Grand County Commission meeting is with Amazon Prime, which is “hopefully coming this fall.”

This story was first published by The Times-Independent.

Note to readers • Lizzie Ramirez is a Report for America corps member covering local government and tourism in Grand County for The Times-Independent. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories. Please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by clicking here.