Bang Bang: 50 Cent's "Gun"

Filming for 50 Cent movie 'Gun' heats up in Grand Rapids warehouse
By John Serba | The Grand Rapids Press
January 10, 2010, 7:11PM

Mark Copier | The Grand Rapids PressActor/producer Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, right, and co-producer Randall Emmett talk about their movie "Gun" filming in Grand Rapids. View photo galleryThe movie business is booming in Grand Rapids — literally.

A little black powder, some sand to push the doors open, a bit of propane to cause a fire, earplugs for everyone in the vicinity and — whoomp! A police car explodes into flames inside the former Lear Corp. plant, 2150 Alpine Ave. NW, Sunday afternoon, where the action movie “Gun” was being filmed with star, producer and screenwriter Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson.

“Gun” began shooting Dec. 27, and principal photography will wrap Thursday. Budgeted at less than $3 million, the movie is a product of Emmett and Jackson’s Cheetah Vision Films partnership. They plan to shoot three films in Michigan in 2010 to take advantage of the state tax incentives. Emmett said they will debut the film at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

Emmett and Jackson filmed “Caught in the Crossfire” locally last year with Grand Rapids-born director Brian Miller; it has not been released yet. Kilmer, who wrapped his “Gun” scenes on Thursday and left town, also starred in “The Chaos Experiment,” which shot locally in 2008 and is now available on DVD.

Jackson and Kilmer co-starred in the thriller “Streets of Blood,” released on DVD last year. Their relationship on that film’s set prompted Jackson to recruit the “Batman Forever” and “Top Gun” actor for “Gun.” Jackson also hand-picked director Jessy Terrero (“Soul Plane”) based on their previous music-video collaborations.

The soft-spoken Jackson talked in great detail about his involvement with the film from top to bottom: He wrote the script’s first draft, serves as its music director and even helped select cameras and cast members. He said he has been offered acting roles, but prefers to pursue “projects that have the level of artistic integrity I want to be associated with.”

Jackson is currently balancing his film work with his music career. He released his new album “Before I Self Destruct” in November, and will take part in concert tours between movies this year. The bonus DVD that comes with the album features a film Jackson directed himself.