Jack Reacher sequel filmed in Louisiana

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is based on the 18th book in a franchise by author Lee Child.

The film used New Orleans as a double for the less film-friendly Washington, DC, but the Louisiana city also featured as itself for the movie’s third act.

“The great thing about Louisiana is there’s a variety of looks that we can create,” said Herb Gains, an executive producer on the film. “As I was reading the script, I envisioned about 80% of the locations in-state. We even have a spot an hour out of New Orleans we can cheat for Afghanistan.

“If you can contain the movie in one place without sacrificing the look, then you’re able to put more money on the screen. We got a lot of bang for our buck and that enabled us to do things like filming in the French Quarter with hundreds and hundreds of extras and closing down streets.”

A key chase sequence was filmed through the streets of New Orleans and across rooftops with the city’s ‘Krewe of Boo’ Halloween Parade taking place for real. The production team filmed parts of the actual parade in October 2015 and then recreated it a few weeks later to shoot additional scenes.

“Ambience and location contribute to every moment in the story,” said Zwick. “There is this parade that’s festive and beautiful, but at the same time above it on the rooftops there’s this very scary climactic chase going on. Those two things together create a nice juxtaposition.”

Louisiana is one of the top production hubs in the US for big-budget features. The southern state recently capped the annual fund for its generous filming incentive for the first time, but continues to appeal to high-profile movies and TV shows.

Over the past two years Louisiana has hosted oil rig disaster movie Deepwater Horizon, Civil War feature Free State of Jones and scenes for new Wolverine movie Logan.

Image: David James/Paramount Pictures