By Scott MacKeen
Staff Writer
4/30/09
Studio executives are once again looking to Milton to provide scenery for their stars.
Executives representing “The Company Men,” a film to star three Oscar winners, have approached town leaders requesting permission to film scenes in town.
Officials said they were informed last week that people from the film are scouting Milton as a potential shooting location, although they did not indicate where or when the filming would occur.
Selectmen and the town administrator spent the week developing a permitting process that could allow for the filming. They will present that plan at the board’s meeting April 30.
The film, which stars Cambridge native Ben Affleck, is currently being filmed in several Boston-area locations, including Roxbury and Lynn. The film’s cast also includes Hollywood heavyweights Kevin Costner and Tommy Lee Jones.
It is written and directed by John Wells, who has written and produced episodes of television’s “ER” and “The West Wing” but is making his feature-film debut.
According to the Internet Movie Database, the story “centers on a year in the life of three men trying to survive a round of corporate downsizing at a major company – and how that affects them, their families and their communities.”
If the film is allowed to shoot in Milton, it will be the third such case of Hollywood coming to town in recent years. In 2007, scenes from two films were shot in town.
“The Box,” a horror film starring Cameron Diaz, includes scenes filmed at Milton Academy and other locations in town. It is scheduled to appear in theaters Oct. 30. “The Women,” starring Meg Ryan and Annette Bening, was also partially filmed in Milton. It was released last September.
“The Company Men” is scheduled to be released sometime next year.