This was the latest example of directors selecting Butler County cities to shoot their movies.
Mary Huttlinger, director of Middletown’s Visitors Bureau, called having the crew in Middletown “a great opportunity” to introduce them to the revitalized downtown.
“Any opportunity we have to get visitors to town is good,” Huttlinger said. “We want them to experience all the small businesses and unique wares. We want people to start thinking and looking outside their daily routines.”
On Monday, according to city leaders, the production team requested permission to film in Middletown. Officials with the movie paid for private security during their time in the city.
The movie, an adaptation of a book by the same name, is set in the Midwest in the 1980s and follows a woman, played by Russell, on a journey of self-discovery when she meets a drifter and falls in love. It is being directed by Luca Guadignino.
Over the last decade, numerous films have been shot in and around Butler County.
In 2019 in Middletown, director Ron Howard and key cast members shot parts of the movie version of “Hillbilly Elegy” written by J.D. Vance about growing up in Middletown and Jackson, Kentucky.
The movie had a 43-day shooting schedule with four filming days in Middletown. Most of the interior scenes were shot at various locations in Macon, Clayton and Atlanta, Georgia, according to the movie publicist.
The movie featured Glenn Close, Amy Adams and Gabriel Basso.
In 2016, scenes for the movie “Girl From Compton” were filmed in Middletown.
Robert Redford visited the set of “Old Man and the Gun” when scenes were shot in Hamilton in 2017.
James Franco, director and star of the film, “The Long Home,” was seen on the set staged at a farmhouse cabin in Morgan Twp. in 2015.
That same year, actors Prem Singh and Michael Pugliese filmed a fight scene for the movie “Tiger” in the Hamilton High School gymnasium.
Parts of the George Clooney movie “Ides of March” were shot outside The Farmer School of Business on the Miami University campus in 2011.
Scenes for the movie “Carol” were shot near Kosta’s Restaurant in Hamilton in 2014.
