Ant-Man Officially Begins Filming

It's been a long and winding road with some significant bumps along the way, but Marvel's troubled Ant-Man is, as of today, finally in front of the cameras in San Francisco. Just in case there was any doubt, director Peyton Reed has sealed the deal with a tweet...

Having avoided the anticipated storm of opprobrium at Comic-Con (largely by not really giving it a presence there), Marvel will be hoping to put the last few months' events behind them and move boldly forward. Edgar Wright, of course, after years of development, walked off the project in May, with major screenplay rewrites by Adam McKay, Kevin Weisman and Matt Gerard following in his wake.

The subsequent weeks then saw cast members Patrick Wilson, Matt Gerard and Kevin Weisman depart thanks to said rewrites and, in Wilson's case, scheduling conflicts due to the production delays. But we're now off and running, with original stars Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas and Evangeline Lily in the lead roles. Late additions now include Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, Michael Peña, Corey Stoll, John Slattery (presumably reprising his role as Howard Stark, Tony's father), rapper T.I. and comedian Gregg Turkington.

Guardians Of The Galaxy seemed like a risky move, but now everybody loves it. Maybe Ant-Man, now that the dust has settled, will pull a similar rabbit out of the hat. Fingers crossed that come release we will be wondering what all the fuss was about. The scheduled date for Ant-Man's debut remains July 15 next year, which means that Peyton and co. will have to work fast.

We'll keep you posted. In the meantime, Marvel's full start-of-shooting press release reads thusly:

Marvel Studios began principal photography today in San Francisco, California, on its newest Super Hero franchise Marvel's Ant-Man. The film brings one of Marvel comics' original founding members of The Avengers into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The production also shoots on location in Atlanta, Georgia, which serves as the base for the film's production.

Set for release in the United States on July 17, 2015, the film is directed by Peyton Reed (Bring it On, The Break-Up) and stars Paul Rudd (I Love You Man, Role Models) as Scott Lang aka Ant-Man, and Michael Douglas (Behind The Candelabra, Wall Street) as his mentor Dr. Hank Pym and Evangeline Lilly (The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Lost) as Hope Van Dyne, daughter of Hank Pym.

The film also includes outstanding additional cast including Corey Stoll (House of Cards, The Bourne Legacy), Bobby Cannavale (Danny Collins, Annie, HBO's The Long Play), Michael Peña (End of Watch, American Hustle), Abby Ryder Fortson (Togetherness), Judy Greer (13 Going on 30, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), David Dastmalchian (The Dark Knight, Prisoners), Wood Harris (Remember the Titans, The Wire), John Slattery (Mad Men, Marvel's Iron Man 2) and Gregg Turkington (The Comedy, On Cinema) and multi-hyphenate T.I. (American Gangster, Takers).

Based on the Marvel comic character first published in 1962, Marvel's Ant-Man continues the lineage of epic big-screen adventures chronicled in Marvel's Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, Marvel's The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy and the upcoming Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Armed with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, con-man Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) must embrace his inner-hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), protect the secret behind his spectacular Ant-Man suit from a new generation of towering threats. Against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Pym and Lang must plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.

*Marvel's Ant-Man is produced by Marvel Studios' president, Kevin Feige, with Louis D'Esposito, Alan Fine, Victoria Alonso, Michael Grillo and Stan Lee serving as executive producers. *

Director Peyton Reed's creative team also includes Oscar® winning cinematographer Russell Carpenter (Titanic, 21), production designer Sheppard Frankel (Identity Thief, Horrible Bosses) costume designer Sammy Sheldon Differ (X-Men: First Class, Kick Ass), visual effects supervisor Jake Morrison (Marvel's Thor: The Dark World, The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers), stunt coordinator Jeff Habberstad (Marvel's Iron Man 3, X-Men: Days of Future Past) and six-time Oscar® nominee, special effects supervisor Dan Sudik (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Marvel's The Avengers). The editors include Dan Lebental, ACE (Marvel's Thor: The Dark World, Marvel's Iron Man) and Colby Parker Jr. (Lone Survivor, Hancock).