Atomic Brain Invasion
The Star Diner is no stranger to the movie camera in Rhode Island. Manifest Breakfast and the Showtime Series Brotherhood . If you happen to be in the Rumford area you may see some interesting activity at the diner. Scorpio Film Releasing has been shooting a Si/Fi flick ” Atomic Brian Invasion ” at the diner. 1950’s era automobiles and even an Elvis sighting have been reported in recent weeks. Trailer for> Atomic Brain Invasion
11/12/09 10:16AM
Aliens, Elvis and the Star Diner
The Rumford landmark diner hosts the “Atomic Brain Invasion”
By George Morse
EAST PROVIDENCE – It’s 1957 and Elvis Presley is coming to perform in the quiet town of New Shoreham – a fictional community reminiscent of Block Island. All around town, teenagers are gathering in excitement for the performance. Traveling across the galaxy, a group of cheerleaders from outer space have also come to catch a glimpse of the rock n’ roll icon.
But these intergalactic travelers are not alone. They’ve been joined by a group of evil aliens who want to kidnap Elvis and bring him back to their home planet. In order to save The King, the local teenagers must join forces with the alien cheerleaders to fight off the malicious invaders.
New Shoreman may never be the same.
That’s the rough plot summary of “Atomic Brain Invasion,” the newest project from the Rhode Island based Scorpio Films Releasing. Last weekend, the film company spent several hours shooting two scenes at the Star Diner, located on Newport Avenue.
“It’s an absolutely perfect location given the time period,” said film director Richard Griffin, a Pawtucket native. “It’s great too because it just re-opened a little while ago. This is a nice, mutually exclusive deal where they’re letting us shoot here but we’re giving them some exposure with the movie. Diners like this are a dying breed. It’s great to see that they’ve kept it so historically accurate. It’s one of the things I’m always proud of, being a Rhode Islander, is that we do protect our history.”
Earlier this year, the Star Diner re-opened to the public after being closed since 2000. During this time, co-owners Quentin Sanford and Bethany Sanford-Smith renovated the diner to its original state, changing it back from a Chinese food restaurant that had operated in the location for more than a couple of decades. Originally, the diner was built in 1951 by the DeRaffelle Diner Manufacturing Company, based in New York.
Today, it’s hard to tell the structure is more than 50 years old.
Prior to “Atomic Brain Invasion” showing up, the Star Diner has been home to other film and television projects. In 2008, the Showtime series “Brotherhood” filmed a scene from its final episode at the diner and earlier this year, a short filmed titled “Manifest Breakfast” produced by Optic Sugar Films of Providence and Jawdoc Productions of Cranston was on location for a couple days of filming.
“It’s really interesting, you get to see what actually goes into filming,” Mr. Sanford said. “When you watch TV or something it just looks so easy. You don’t realize how much work goes into these things that look so simple. How many different takes and angles. There’s a lot to it.”
As for “Atomic Brain Invasion,” Mr. Griffin said the movie was shooting two scenes at the diner, one during the day and one at night. In this part of the movie, the team of teenagers and alien cheerleaders attempt to stave off a kidnapping attempt by the evil aliens.
“Our heroes fight them off,” Mr. Griffin said.
“There’s going to be a lot of slime and other fun stuff.”
In addition to filming in Rumford, the movie has also shot in Exeter, Coventry and Pawtucket. Mr. Griffin said filming on this project is expected to wrap-up on Sunday, Nov. 15.
Once filming is done, the editing process will begin and Mr. Griffin predicts a summer 2010 premiere. After this, the production company will begin shopping the film around to distribution companies.
In the past, Scorpio Film Releasing has sent six movies to national and worldwide distribution, including its most recent project “Nun of That,” which centered on a group of vigilante nuns and will be available on DVD Jan. 12, 2010.
Going forward, Mr. Sanford said he is open to having more film projects at the Star Diner.
“It’s nice, but sometimes it’s a little overwhelming,” Mr. Sanford said. “We never say never I guess. It’s not really lucrative but it’s good exposure for the diner. Hopefully this latest one does well. It looks like it’ll be a nice, fun movie.”
Persy’s Place 