MINNEAPOLIS, MN — A remake of the popular 2001 war film Black Hawk Down was reportedly in development at Columbia Pictures, with producers eyeing downtown Minneapolis as the primary filming location.
"I got stuck there on a layover once, and I thought I'd landed in Somalia, but it was just Minnesota," producer Jerry Bruckheimer said. "I've never been more scared in my entire life. And I'm from Detroit."
The original film, based on the true story of two U.S. military Black Hawk helicopters that were shot down during the Battle of Mogadishu during the Somali Civil War, was filmed using Morocco as a stand-in for war-torn Somalia, but producers now believe that the Minneapolis of 2025 looks even more like the real thing.
Original director Ridley Scott was reportedly set to return after having been inspired by the reports of location scouting. "I try to be as accurate as possible with my historical depictions, but there's only so much you can do when you can't actually film in a war-torn third-world country," Scott said of his work, "Luckily, the Twin Cities is in absolute shambles. I was shocked when I heard human beings still live there."
According to sources, more Somalians now live in Minneapolis than in Somalia itself, which gives the location an extra air of realism. "It's really going to save us on the budget getting to film right here in America without having to fly in Somalian actors," Bruckheimer said.
At publishing time, filming had been relocated to regular Somalia after Minneapolis was deemed to be too dangerous.
Heartwarming!
