A large film crew, replete with crane-mounted camera and dozens of production staff, co-opted a popular University of Sydney bus stop on Wednesday, forcing many students traveling to and from campus to walk 200 metres further in the rain as regular routes were diverted.
The bus stops at City Road near Butlin Avenue at the University’s Camperdown campus were affected by the shoot, which it is understood to be part of upcoming sci-fi thriller Bleeding Steel, the latest Jackie Chan film, directed by Leo Zhang.
The film crew shot fake students sitting undercover at the bus stop as well as a motorcycle heist scene later in the afternoon. Meanwhile, real students were inconvenienced and, at times, rained on. Honi understands that the fake students were actually “actors”.
The bus stops were affected from 5am, according to some attractive extras, and returned to normal operation when filming finished in the afternoon around 4pm, before the peak hour rush.
Bleeding Steel is expected to be the biggest budget Chinese film ever to shoot in Australia, according to one SBS report.
Buses affected included the 423, M30, and everyone’s least favourite, 352, among others.
According to crew members, today was the only day of filming at Sydney University. They did not disclose which bus stops they would affect next.
Honi Soit could not locate Jackie Chan on campus for comment despite varied efforts, including yelling at the sky and pretending to be the film’s executive producer.
“I asked if Jackie Chan was on campus and this guy in a fluro shirt said no. This inconvenienced my trip to Mosman on the M30 bus,” said inconvenienced student Summer Lea.
The film’s release date is yet to be announced.