X-Men movie shoot will complicate access to Mount Royal, group says

A shoot for a popular Hollywood film franchise will cause some disruption at Mount Royal in the coming weeks, but exactly how it will affect access to the park is in dispute.

One of the next movies in the X-Men series,X-Men: Dark Phoenixis shooting in Montreal. It's the third film in the franchise to be shot in thiscity.

Part of the film will be shot on Mount Royal and, according toEvelineTrudel-Fugreof Les Amis de la Montagne, a non-profit group that organizes activities on the mountain, it will monopolize the main parking lot,near Smith House, and affect other access points to the park.

"It will, obviously, have a negative impact on park users' experience," she said.

Trudel-Fugre said the shoot is happeningata particularly busy time of year crews began setting up on Monday, and will only finish dismantlingthe structures Sept. 2 andduring Montreal's 375th anniversary celebrations, so there are even more people than usual visiting.

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Her group has no say over how the park is used, but she's hoping a consultation process, already underway, will help create a set of criteria they can refer back to when activities and events are held at the park.

A different story

The city, however, maintains that the impact to parkgoers will be minimal.

According to city spokespersonAnikdeRepentigny, the main parking lot will only be completely off-limits during the five days, from Aug. 20 to 25,when shooting is actually taking place. Outside of those days, the lot will only be partially blocked off.

She said since Monday, city workers have been checking the other parking lots and they haven't yet seena shortage of available spots. Municipal employees who work on the mountain were given spots in other parking lots.

The city is also in discussions with STM to provide more frequentbus service, she said.

Mayor Denis Coderre tweeted out a statement regarding the situation Wednesday, saying all activities at the park will go on as planned.

The actual shoot consists mainly of dialogue, the mayor says, meaning the city is not expecting any significant noise issues.

Coderresays between $75 and $80 million out of the film's $150-million budget is being spent in the city.