Ant-Man was supposed to begin filming around the beginning of summer, but when Edgar Wright and Marvel parted ways in mid-May over the studio's massive changes in the script, Marvel began a hunt for a new director.  After spending a few weeks looking for a replacement, the studio settled on Yes Man director Peyton Reed with Adam McKay working on the script followed by a last-minute polish by writers Gabriel Ferrari and Andrew Barrer.

Now we're at the end of the summer, and filming has finally begun.  Hit the jump for more.  The film stars Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, and Corey StollAnt-Man opens July 17, 2015. [Update: We've added the full Marvel press release after the jump, which reveals that John Slattery has been added to the cast presumably as 1970s Howard Stark (possibly confirming this story), in addition to Judy GreerT.I., and more.  Additionally, final credits on the screenplay still haven't been revealed and likely won't be until the Writers Guild of America arbitration.]

Today, Reed sent out the following tweet:

 

According to On Location Vacations, filming has begun in San Francisco under the working title "Bigfoot" (side note: I now want to see Paul Rudd in a movie about Bigfoot), and was spotted at Stanford Court Hotel, 905 California St.  There were also notices posted around Jones, Ellis, and O'Farrell streets "advising filming of Marvel’s Pym Particles Productions, LLC" (cheeky) for tomorrow.

ant-man-poster

The movie is expected to shoot in San Francisco for a couple weeks before moving to the new Pinewood Atlanta Studio in Fayette, GA.  It is currently unknown if the movie will try to make Atlanta up to look like San Francisco, but it wouldn't surprise me in the least if they did.  No offense to my hometown, but what's a more glamorous location for a superhero's origin: San Francisco, home of the Golden Gate Bridge, or Atlanta, home of countless Waffle Houses?  However, if any part of Ant-Man took place in a Waffle House, it would automatically be on of my Top 10 films of 2015.

It's worth noting that although the script for Reed's Ant-Man is probably vastly different that what Wright and co-writer Joe Cornish came up with, Reed will still be working from the pre-visualization on Wright's action scenes because there was no time to devise new ones.

I'm also curious about what preparations Pinewood Atlanta has made for the upcoming production.  Having to take on a movie that's going to be rushing to make a July 2015 release date is a bit of a baptism by fire, although there's no reason to think that filming will be a disaster.  It's just less than ideal to work on a film that changed the director midway through the process.

However, Reed isn't a rookie, and as we saw from Comic-Con, his heart is in the right place.  There's really no "replacing" Edgar Wright, but I hope we'll still get an enjoyable movie even if it did lose an entire season's worth of filming.

ant-man-michael-douglas-paul-rudd

Here's the official press release from Marvel, which also reveals the cinematographer, editors, etc.:

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA (August, 18, 2014) – Marvel Studios began principal photography today in San Francisco, California, on its newest Super Hero franchise Marvel’s “Ant-Man.” The film brings one of Marvel comics’ original founding members of The Avengers into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The production also shoots on location in Atlanta, Georgia, which serves as the base for the film’s production.

Set for release in the United States on July 17, 2015, the film is directed by Peyton Reed (“Bring it On,” “The Break-Up”) and stars Paul Rudd (“I Love You Man,” “Role Models”) as Scott Lang aka Ant-Man, and Michael Douglas (“Behind The Candelabra,” “Wall Street”) as his mentor Dr. Hank Pym and Evangeline Lilly (“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” “Lost”) as Hope Van Dyne, daughter of Hank Pym.

The film also includes outstanding additional cast including Corey Stoll (“House of Cards,” “The Bourne Legacy”), Bobby Cannavale (“Danny Collins,” “Annie,” “HBO’s “The Long Play”), Michael Peña (“End of Watch,” “American Hustle”), Abby Ryder Fortson (“Togetherness”), Judy Greer (“13 Going on 30,” “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”), David Dastmalchian (“The Dark Knight,” “Prisoners”), Wood Harris (“Remember the Titans,” “The Wire”), John Slattery (“Mad Men,” Marvel’s “Iron Man 2”) and Gregg Turkington (“The Comedy,” “On Cinema”) and multi-hyphenate T.I. (“American Gangster,” “Takers”).

Based on the Marvel comic character first published in 1962, Marvel’s “Ant-Man” continues the lineage of epic big-screen adventures chronicled in Marvel’s “Iron Man,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “Iron Man 2,” “Thor,” “Captain America: The First Avenger,” “Marvel’s The Avengers,” “Iron Man 3,” “Thor: The Dark World,” “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” “Guardians of the Galaxy” and the upcoming Marvel’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron.”

Armed with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, con-man Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) must embrace his inner-hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), protect the secret behind his spectacular Ant-Man suit from a new generation of towering threats. Against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Pym and Lang must plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.

Marvel’s “Ant-Man” is produced by Marvel Studios’ president, Kevin Feige, with Louis D’Esposito, Alan Fine, Victoria Alonso, Michael Grillo and Stan Lee serving as executive producers.

Director Peyton Reed’s creative team also includes Oscar® winning cinematographer Russell Carpenter (“Titanic,” “21”), production designer Sheppard Frankel (“Identity Thief,” “Horrible Bosses”) costume designer Sammy Sheldon Differ (“X-Men: First Class,” “Kick Ass”), visual effects supervisor Jake Morrison (Marvel’s “Thor: The Dark World,” “The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers”), stunt coordinator Jeff Habberstad (Marvel’s “Iron Man 3,” “X-Men: Days of Future Past”) and six-time Oscar® nominee, special effects supervisor Dan Sudik (“Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” “Marvel’s The Avengers”).  The editors include Dan Lebental, ACE (Marvel’s “Thor: The Dark World,” Marvel’s “Iron Man”) and Colby Parker Jr. (“Lone Survivor,” “Hancock”).

Marvel Studios’ upcoming release schedule includes Marvel’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron” on May 1, 2015, Marvel’s “Captain America 3” on May 6, 2016, and Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy 2,” on July 28, 2017.