CINCINNATI — George Clooney’s “The Ides of March “trailer leaves no doubt that Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky play a big supporting role in the political thriller.
The 2-minute promotion released Thursday shows stars Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman or Clooney on or near Fountain Square and Fourth Street downtown; Paul Brown Stadium; Lunken Airport; Covington’sRiverside Drive; Newport’s Comfort Suites; and Miami University’s Hall Auditorium.
“Ides” opens nationwide Oct. 7, but some folks here might not wait that long to see it. The Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky Film Commission is trying to lure Clooney for a late September screening.
Film commission executive director Kristen Erwin and Doris Owensof the Owens Group movie promotion company in Finneytown “are working to see that one happens in Cincinnati, a week prior (to the release), we hope,” Erwin said Thursday.
In making “Ides,” Clooney, 50, and longtime producing partner Grant Heslov, rewrote Beau Willimon’s play “Farragut North,” and moved the setting to Ohio from the Iowa primary.
The Oscar-winning actor grew up in Fort Mitchell, Mason and Augusta, where he graduated from high school in 1979.
For three weeks in February, Clooney directed scenes here with Gosling, Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, Paul Giamatti and Evan Rachel Wood.
They also shot in many places not apparent in the movie trailer: Memorial Hall; the Fifth Street Skywalk; The Stand nightclub in Mount Lookout; Hamilton Avenue in Northside; Xavier University; and Oakley’s Cast-Fab plant.
Production moved in March to Michigan for four weeks. Clooney received filmmaking tax incentives from both states for the $17 million production.
Before leaving for Detroit, Erwin asked Clooney to return for a screening in the city that enthusiastically embraced its latest brush with Hollywood. More than 25,000 people emailed interest in being a movie extra and 1,600 were used, Erwin said.
The trailer also reveals a critical plot point: How the press secretary (Gosling) for presidential candidate Gov. Mike Morris (Clooney) wants to switch to the opposition’s campaign days before the Ohio primary.
The promotion was released five weeks before “Ides” premieres at the Venice Film Festival Aug. 31.
It also will be screened during the Toronto Interntational Film Festival Sept. 8-18.