It’s been lights, camera and action at Barrie’s Sadlon Arena the last few weeks.
Cast and crew have been in the city since Jan. 27, filming scenes for a remake of the 1986 sports drama and cult classic Youngblood, which stared Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze and Cynthia Gibb, and followed a young American hockey prospect hoping to attract the attention of professional scouts north of the border. A young Keanu Reeves even played the goalie in that original version.
This latest iteration, starring Ashton James as lead character Dean Youngblood, is more of an adaptation than a reboot, however, said Anthony Leo, a producer for the film.
“There are a lot of similarities with the original," Leo told BarrieToday. "It still very much begs the question of will Dean Youngblood fight at the end of the film, but we are using it as a way to still maintain a lot of that amazing hockey action but also to explore some of the issues around toxic masculinity when it comes to the world of hockey.
“I think it’s something fans of the original film will really love," he added.
Movie-goers will be impressed with not only how hockey is portrayed in the flick, said Leo, but also how the film is able to bring a new meaning to the story that will be relatable for modern-day audiences.
The city of Barrie has been extremely welcoming to both cast and crew, making filming here — including a scene shot during a recent intermission at a Barrie Colts game — an “amazing” experience to date, Leo said.
“Sadlon Arena and the Barrie Colts have been so generous and allowed us to get right in there as far as being able to capture the film in a way that is very authentic," he said. “They’ve gone out of their way to rally their fan-base to get them excited about the film.
"That brings a value to the project that (shows) you can’t just go out and rent a space and hope for the best,” Leo added. “I was not surprised with how well it’s gone here because they’ve been so generous with their time and so keen to help us make a great film from the very beginning. I’ve been proven right every day that we’ve been here.”
Anyone who was at the Colts game the night the final scene in the movie was shot may even be lucky enough to see themselves on the big screen when the movie is released this fall, he said.
“We had about six minutes during the intermission to get on the ice, get the shot and get off … before the Zamboni ran us over,” Leo said with a laugh. “The crowd was so generous and gave us a really warm welcome and brought so much energy to the actors for that scene. It really helped the actors feel what the stakes were.”
Approximately half of the film will be filmed at the south-end Barrie rink, said Leo, who added the fictional team in the movie is meant to portray a hockey organization that is similar to the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) calibre.
“That didn’t give us a ton of options as far as a city that was close to Toronto that could facilitate the kind of space we needed to make it feel authentic. We automatically thought of Barrie because of the Barrie Colts and its proximity to Toronto,” he said.
“As we started to scout the cities that were options, very early on we could tell the team here (and) Sadlon Arena had a good amount of experience with film crews," Leo added. "It’s so important to find a city and location that are going to work with you to make the best film possible and that is definitely the vibe we got.”
Portions of another hockey movie, 2017's Goon: Last of the Enforcers, were also filmed at what was then the Barrie Molson Centre in the summer of 2015.