New Jeremy Renner TV crime drama shoots in east Hamilton

If you are a big fan of Marvel's The Avengers," you might be thrilled to know Hawkeye was seen in town.

If you were a big fan of Flashpoint" - the TV show about a police tactical unit in an unnamed large Canadian city that ran on CTV/CBS from 2008-2013 - you might be also excited to know that Sgt. Ed Lane was also.

Jeremy Renner, also known for being in the Tom Cruise Mission Impossible" franchise, and Hugh Dillon, lead singer for the rock band The Headstones, were in Hamilton last week filming scenes for the new TV crime drama, The Mayor of Kingstown."

The show, created by Dillon and Oscar-nominated writer Taylor Sheridan, filmed at locations at Beach Road and Kenilworth Avenue North, Cope and Barton Street and at a former bank building on Queenston Road, just east of Parkdale Avenue South.

Renner was seen at the last location and Dillon was spotted at the first location. The Queenston Road building had a sign attached to its east side that said Kingstown Auto Sales Used Cars Trucks.'

The production, to be broadcast on the streaming service Paramount Plus, has also shot in Mississauga, Toronto and the Kingston penitentiary.

Renner, who plays the title character, Mike McLusky, was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in The Hurt Locker" (2008).

Dillon, Sheridan and Renner got acquainted when they all worked on the film Wind River" (2017). Sheridan was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Hell or High Water" (2016). Sheridan and Dillon also worked together on the Kevin Costner show Yellowstone."

A synopsis for The Mayor of Kingstown" says it follows the McLusky family power brokers in Kingstown, Michigan, where the business of incarceration is the only thriving business."

In February, Variety said it tackles the themes of systemic racism, corruption and inequality and focuses on attempts to bring order and justice to a town that has neither.

I'm excited to dig into the complex and rough-around-the-edges character of Mike McLusky," Renner told Variety. In a world otherwise forgotten in society, Mike serves as a flawed system of checks and balances."

The show also features Life in Pieces" star and Oscar winner Dianne Wiest. She won Best Supporting Actress Oscars for Hannah and Her Sisters" (1986) and Bullets over Broadway" (1994).

The Party Planner"

The movie The Party Planner" has been filming around the Hamilton area in the last month.

It shot scenes in a condo building on Dundurn Street South last week. In May, it shot scenes at the Copper Kettle Cafe in Waterdown and at a Dundas-area farm.

Not much is publicly known about the film, but it is most likely a romantic comedy. It involves Toronto-based Champlain Media. The company is involved in the production of a lot of romances like Blueprint to The Heart" (2020) and The Baby Proposal" (2021).

The Waterdown BIA posted pics of the shoot and said it was standing in for a cafe in New York.

It was a great experience," the cafe manager told The Spectator. We're glad we did it."

Secondhand Rose"

The film Secondhand Rose" has also been shooting around the Hamilton area.

It filmed scenes at the Ancaster Mill, a church and in the north end.

Again, there is no public information about the movie. At the Ancaster shoot, a woman was seen walking down the stairs beside the old mill in what looked like a pioneer-era dress.

Later in the day, on nearby Millcreek Court, the filmmakers shot a garage sale on the front lawn of a home. A SUV with Illinois plates was parked by the driveway.

A 1922 film with the same name was about a woman who marries a man to save her brother from being sent to jail for a crime he did not commit. The U.S. Silent Feature Database says it is a lost silent film.

Daniel Nolan is a freelancer who writes about film for the Hamilton Spectator. He can be reached at dannolanwrites@gmail.com