Meets ‘The Stone’
Scenes from Sony Pictures’ ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’ Shot at Georgia Quarry
24 November/December 2019 The Conveyor | www.martinmarietta.com
the actors you and I know by name.
Another interesting aside: Dwayne
Johnson’s stunt double is his cousin
(Tanoai Reed), who looks just like him.
The makeup artists even made their
tattoos look the same.”
By all accounts, the filming went
extremely well. The Lithonia team
continued to operate safely and efficiently
without interruption, while the
film crew enjoyed pleasant weather,
kept to their schedule and stayed safe.
“Lithonia Plant Manager John Lance
and Foreman Matt McKeever were
excellent resources for this project and
the Lithonia crew couldn’t have been
better,” Waligora said. “There are a few
minor things we might change if we do
this again, but overall, it was a really
positive experience.” ▼
necessary details – including matters of
logistics and safety. Once the expectations
of all parties were agreed upon,
the artists took over.
“When the director (Jake Kasdan)
drove through, he just fell in love with
the scene. The scope of the project really
started to grow from there,” Waligora
said.
Bill Brzeski, the film’s production
designer, similarly praised the quarry’s
location and scenery.
“One of the reasons we chose Lithonia
Quarry is that it has somewhat natural
cliff faces and terrain that could be
mistaken for a mountainous location
we were shooting in Canada,” he said.
“Also, (the Lithonia team) was very
film-friendly and gave use great support
in shaping landscapes to our location
needs.”
We’ll provide no spoilers here, but the
scenes shot at Lithonia involved several
of the film’s A-list celebrities as well as a
host of animals.
Southeast Division Executive Administrative
Assistant Dawn Wood was
onsite for the filming and said the
experience was one she’ll never forget.
“One of the things I found incredibly
interesting is that there were three sets
of actors,” she said. “First, you have
stand-ins, then stunt doubles and then
Dwayne Johnson. Kevin Hart. Jack
Black. Karen Gillan. They’re some
of the biggest names in Hollywood
and in the background – literally, the
ground, trees and highwalls behind
them – there was Martin Marietta.
“Jumanji: The Next Level” is set to hit
theaters on Dec. 13. When it does, some
across the company may recognize at
least one of its filming locations. Earlier
this year, the cast along with a large film
crew and even a handful of camels took
over part of Lithonia Quarry, a Southeast
Division operation outside of Atlanta.
North Georgia District Production
Manager Matt Waligora said the first
contact between the “Jumanji” team
and Martin Marietta occurred when
an independent contractor tasked with
scouting film locations reached out
to inquire about Lithonia, a name that
literally means “city of stone.”
“They liked Lithonia because it was
close to their studios and because we
could offer a large inactive portion of
the site where they could film,” he said.
“We have 1,300 acres here, so they had
plenty of room to spread out, and we’re
near the airport, so the stars could fly
in and out easily.”
Waligora said the Southeast Division
team worked with internal and external
groups to hammer out the project’s
SYNOPSIS:
‘JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL’
In ‘Jumanji: The Next Level,’
the gang is back, but the game
has changed. As they return to
Jumanji to rescue one of their
own, they discover that nothing
is as they expect. The players will
have to brave parts unknown and
unexplored, from arid deserts to the
snowy mountains, in order to escape
the world’s most dangerous game.
Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures
‘The Rock’
The cast of “Jumanji: The Next Level” at Lithonia Quarry
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