Spider-Man 3 invades Cleveland

Both the Cleveland Plains Dealer and the Akron Beacon Journal posted stories today about the filming of Spider-Man 3 in downtown Cleveland. From the Dealer:

Crazy driving is nothing new in Cleveland. But when an armored car filled with sand rams into the same parked truck several times in a row, people notice.

That was the action filmed here Monday morning for the upcoming comic-book movie "Spider-Man 3."

On second unit director Dan Bradley's cue, stunt drivers in cars sped down Euclid Avenue just west of Playhouse Square. Cleveland extras walked down the sidewalks to simulate New Yorkers hurrying to work.

The Beacon Journal talked to several on-lookers who came out to watch the cars crash:

Used-car dealer Tim O'Grady, 30, of Brook Park, took the day off from work and brought his 4-year-old son Ethan downtown to watch filming.

"Dad came home last night and fell asleep on the couch," he said as Ethan stood next to him, teeth chattering from the nip in the air. "I owed him."

O'Grady wasn't the only one to feel obligated. Ruth Yates, 37, drove from Berlin Heights near Sandusky so that her 6-year-old daughter, Brooke, could get a gander at what was happening. Brooke has been borderline obsessed with Spider-Man since she was a toddler, Yates said. Brooke even had a birthday party centered on the superhero.

On Monday, Brooke clutched a Spider-Man doll, sported a Spidey T-shirt and pulled items from her backpack with a replica of the webhead on it as she and her mom waited for shooting to begin. Yates pulled Brooke from school for this without any qualms. It was their second day in Cleveland to watch the crew work.

"People take vacations all the time," she said. "This is our mini-vacation. Besides, it's kind of ironic that it's being filmed here because she likes him so much."