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SHOOTING STARS: 'Domino' continues shooting; 'Fear Factor' returns to town
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas -- unless, that is, cameras are rolling to capture the action.
This week's action will happen at both ends of Las Vegas Boulevard, thanks to the big-screen feature "Domino" at the Stratosphere and the small-screen fixture "Fear Factor" at Excalibur and Mandalay Bay.
"Domino" starts the week at Valley of Fire State Park, with "Man on Fire" director Tony Scott calling the shots on the action drama about a model-turned-bounty hunter (played by "Pirates of the Caribbean's" Keira Knightley).
"Domino" ends the week at the Stratosphere, which provides the movie's climactic location. Principal photography is scheduled to conclude there Dec. 20.
Before then, however, plenty of action -- and pyrotechnics -- will fire up around and above the Stratosphere's trademark tower.
Saturday and Sunday nights, Las Vegas Boulevard is scheduled to be closed between St. Louis and Baltimore avenues, with southbound traffic diverted to Paradise Road. (It's good practice for New Year's Eve, when the same road closure will be in effect.)
A helicopter flying near the tower during filming also may prompt some road closures throughout the week.
The Stratosphere's standout "Domino" role began during the script stage, according to executive producer Barry Waldman.
"At one point, everyone believed they were taking it down," he recalls, but "when everyone realized it was not coming down," there was "a huge resurgence" in interest.
Although an off-camera casino heist sparks "Domino's" action, the movie's action ultimately "comes together in the Top of the World" restaurant, Waldman reports.
Filming at the Stratosphere presents a challenge for both movie and casino officials, Waldman says.
After all, "nobody wants their one-week vacation to be ruined because a movie company's filming," Waldman points out.
More often than not, however, tourists welcome the chance to observe, says Waldman, who observed the phenomenon in San Francisco (during filming of "The Rock" at Alcatraz Island), Hawaii (during "Pearl Harbor" production) and Philadelphia, where Independence Hall provided a location for "National Treasure," which is currently riding high at the box-office.
Meanwhile, back on the small screen, "Fear Factor" checks in Tuesday for its third Vegas visit, a special hourlong episode slated to air during February's ratings sweeps.
This time around, however, the show will feature four pairs of competitors rather than the usual eight individuals.
The Mandalay Resort Group once again hosts the NBC series, which has reached the magic 100th-episode milestone, the ticket to television syndication and a lucrative life after prime-time.
"Vegas is hot right now," notes supervising producer Brian Veskosky, pointing out that "Fear Factor's" Monday night schedule-mate, "Las Vegas," is "doing very well for NBC."
And with television's poker craze still blazing, "Fear Factor" will combine the two trends Wednesday night at the Excalibur, where a Texas hold 'em game will include an inevitable "Fear Factor" gross-out twist. (The public is invited to come and watch -- if you dare.)
The Hotel at Mandalay Bay's new tower also will see some lofty "Fear Factor" action Thursday.
The show's major stunt, however, will take place Tuesday evening in an industrial area, Veskosky notes.
Not that they didn't want to stage it on Las Vegas' most glittering thoroughfare, but the prospect of shutting down the Strip for an elaborate two-day stunt just wasn't in the cards, according to Veskosky.
With cooperation and consideration from Clark County officials, however, "Fear Factor" managed to find a suitable site, complete with a Strip view.
"The county has been great," he notes.
"We knew this particular stunt would take a lot of planning," so officials from the show and the county began meeting four months ago to coordinate.
"The stunt is enormous," he notes. "It's going to be a great stunt." (Even though it will require detours for local drivers.)
Also on the unscripted TV front, E! Entertainment Television's "The Entertainer" is expected to wrap Wednesday.
The series, which begins its cable run Jan. 23, features Vegas icon Wayne Newton mentoring 10 showroom wannabes as they compete for a chance to share the stage with him at the Las Vegas Hilton.
And if the first "Entertainer" garners enough applause, "we would love to do multiple seasons," according to Lisa Berger, senior vice president of program development for E!
"We love doing programming out of Las Vegas," she notes. "Las Vegas typifies everything entertainment" and everything related to it, from "restaurants to shows to spas."
That Vegas variety plays a role in "The Entertainer," along with the variety of performers competing for a chance to shine in the Vegas spotlight, Berger adds.
"The bottom line is, we want to make Las Vegas a character," she says, adding that Newton is, inevitably, "the biggest character in the show. Wayne is our driver, no doubt about it."
Newton, however, isn't the only local notable expected to join the reality-TV fray.
The Maloof family -- who helped kick off the Vegas reality TV rage by welcoming MTV's "The Real World" to the Palms in 2002 -- have just signed with MTV's brother cable network, Spike, for a series in which the Maloof brothers will help transform struggling family businesses.
It's something they know about, considering their ventures include the Palms, the NBC's Sacramento Kings and Maloof TV, a new production company that will partner with Reveille (the production company behind, among other shows, the made-in-Vegas "The Club") for the weekly hourlong series.
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12-21-2004, 02:21 PM
