Hollywood star Mark Wahlberg is in the North East filming Steven Spielberg’s latest blockbuster Transformers: The Last Knight.
The Ted actor has joined cast and crew in heading north from London, where they were busy at the weekend shooting high-octane car scenes on the streets of the capital.
Now they are ‘transforming’ Northumberland as they film the latest scenes of the sci-fi epic in Alnwick on Thursday and Friday, before moving on to Bamburgh from Saturday.
Bringing movie magic to the market town will be generating huge excitement as well as a boost for the local economy, with around 200 crew members settling in for the shoot.
Preparations for filming in the region took place below the radar with filmmakers scouting out North East locations, but the arrival of the big name 3D sci-fi epic, in which Wahlberg plays Cade Yeager, could not hope to be a secret for long.
Spielberg is executive producer on the film, the fifth in the hit Transformers franchise, which is directed by Michael Bay.
Wahlberg made his debut in the fourth instalment, Transformers: Age of Extinction, and returns to play his struggling inventor character for a second time in a new battle with the robot races.
This time Sir Anthony Hopkins is also joining the cast of the film which is due for release in 2017.
Coun Val Tyler, cabinet member for arts, leisure and culture at Northumberland County Council, welcomed the arrival of the cast and crew.
She said: “There is no doubt that the spin-offs of such a big budget movie could be enormous and will be felt throughout the local tourism industry and economy.
“History proved this much when Harry Potter was filmed in Alnwick.
“At present there are 200 crew members staying in accommodation in the area and spending money in local shops and restaurants.”
According to its website, Alnwick Castle is closed from September 14 to 17, while parts of Bamburgh Beach will also be closed on Saturday and Sunday for filming.
According to a notice at the beach, filming will involve drones and a helicopter - sure to get Transformers fans purring.
Coun Tyler added: “In the longer run, the film will bring the type of international publicity for the area that no amount of advertising could buy.
“It is fantastic that they have chosen our beautiful county as a film location.”
Filming got under way on Transformers: The Last Knight in America earlier this year, with locations including Arizona and Detroit, before transferring across the Atlantic to London, where the recent action scenes featured supercars including the MacLaren 570, a Lamborghini and an Aston Martin.
While Spielberg’s role on the film is in a producer capacity, the Oscar-winner director is no stranger to the charms of the North East.
Filming for his new film The BFG, which he directed, featured Bamburgh Castle in its take on Roald Dahl’s classic children’s story.
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