Blocks of Hong Kong destroyed... but don't worry, it's only a movie
Mexican director Del Toro recreates urban streets then flattens them, just like in the movies
It's the stuff of movies: a 25-storey-tall robot drags an oil tanker through the streets of Hong Kong, creating a trail of destruction, to face off with a sea monster.
Hong Kong's not new to Hollywood, but more and more foreign filmmakers are finding the city's appeal to moviegoers around the world is worth putting their money on.
And the latest to look to Hong Kong is Hollywood director Guillermo del Toro, with his US$150 million Pacific Rim, about robots defending the world against monsters from the ocean.
"We built several blocks of Hong Kong to destroy, and then we destroyed them," del Toro said on Saturday at WonderCon, an annual comic book, science fiction and motion picture convention in California. To film the scene, entire blocks of Hong Kong were recreated inside the largest film studios of North America and Britain.
We built several blocks of Hong Kong to destroy, and then we destroyed them
Del Toro's use of Hong Kong reflects Hollywood's increasing interest in the city, although his is the first production to build a large-scale imitation instead of shooting on location, so the destruction could be real.