Abandoned Warehouse Transforms Into A Studio

Louisiana is lucky enough to be hosting two action films which will be shooting in and around New Orleans this spring. With the cast and crew of "The Expendables" and "Dead of Night" ready to take over the area the local production industry had to speed up their plans for a central hub for the projects. An abandoned warehouse once housing products for Winn Dixie needed an upgrade and fast, and local contractors were willing to oblige.

The 25-acre facility, with more than 500,000 square feet of warehouse space -- which officials said would make it the biggest studio this side of Albuquerque, N.M. -- would undergo a $40 million, tip-to-tail overhaul and reopen late this summer as the region's largest one-stop-shop for TV and film productions.

Things are brighter now, and crews for both films have been tackling pre-production work on the Louisiana Film Studios campus for several weeks. Cameras and a cadre of stars will begin arriving this week as eight weeks of principal photography gets under way on the supernatural thriller "Dead of Night," inspired by the Italian horror comics series "Dylan Dog" and starring "Superman Returns" actor Brandon Routh.

"The Expendables" -- starring Sylvester Stallone, who wrote the script and will also direct, Mickey Rourke, Forest Whitaker, Jet Li and Jason Statham -- will begin its eight-week local shoot April 27 after three weeks in Brazil.