Montréal has officially cemented its status as a premier global backlot, transforming its historic streets and surrounding regional landscapes into 1980s San Diego and the Soviet Union for Skydance’s high-stakes action comedy Mayday, which debuted on Apple TV last week, according to the Bureau du cinéma et de la télévision du Québec (BCTQ).
The Bottom Line
- The Project: Skydance’s action-comedy feature Mayday, starring Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh, landed on Apple TV following a 48-day shoot across Quebec between March and June 2024.
- The Economic Impact: The production generated over $50 million in direct economic activity, injected $3 million into local lodging, and created roughly 2,000 direct and indirect jobs, as reported by the BCTQ.
- The Visual Transformation: Montreal’s Sainte-Catherine Street in the Village was dressed down with imported palm trees and altered storefront facades to mimic San Diego’s historic Gaslamp Quarter, while rural Quebec locations stood in for Cold War-era Soviet territory.
Transforming Montreal Into Gaslamp San Diego and Soviet Territory
Produced with the blockbuster muscle of Skydance—the studio behind heavy-hitting franchises like Mission: Impossible and Top Gun: Maverick—Mayday relies on an eclectic pairing. Ryan Reynolds stars as an US Navy pilot who crashes behind enemy lines in Soviet territory during a covert Cold War mission, forcing an uneasy alliance with an eccentric former KGB agent played by Kenneth Branagh. But bringing this globe-trotting espionage narrative to life required some serious cinematic sleight of hand.
While studio work took place at Studios MELS in Montreal, the production fanned out across the province. According to regional reporting, the crew utilized Sainte-Sophie in the Laurentides, turned a segment of the Village Canadiana in Rawdon into a Russian village, and captured sequences at the Manoir d’Youville in Châteauguay. Here is the kicker: the most visible urban illusion happened right in the heart of Montreal. A major stretch of Sainte-Catherine Street underwent a massive aesthetic overhaul, temporarily stripping away its Canadian identity to recreate the historic Gaslamp Quarter of 1980s San Diego, complete with genuine palm trees lining the pavement.
Decoding Quebec’s High-Yield Studio Economics
For Hollywood major players, Quebec offers a combination of versatile architecture and expertise. Stéphane Cardin, general manager of the BCTQ, points out that Mayday represents a watershed moment for the region. It marks the first time Skydance has ever shot a project in Canada, a coup that materialized after a company representative attended a BCTQ familiarization tour in April 2023 designed to showcase local infrastructure and expertise.
The math behind the studio’s northern migration speaks volumes about modern streaming economics. Apple TV and Skydance poured immense resources into the 48-day local shoot, netting an impressive $50 million in direct economic output alongside 2,000 direct and indirect jobs. Accommodation spending alone hit $3 million. This places Mayday shoulder-to-shoulder with another heavy-hitter on the platform, the series The Last Frontier, confirming that prestige streamers are relying on Canadian locations to anchor their slates.
| Production Metric | Details / Scope |
|---|---|
| Studio & Platform | Skydance / Apple TV |
| Key Cast | Ryan Reynolds, Kenneth Branagh |
| Shooting Duration | 48 days (March to June 2024) |
| Direct Economic Impact | Over $50 million |
| Job Creation | Approx. 2,000 direct and indirect jobs |
| Lodging Spend | $3 million |
The Caméléon City Strategy in the Streaming Wars
As the streaming wars force platforms to constantly refresh their libraries with high-end cinematic content, locations that can pivot visually are winning big. Cardin notes that Montreal’s historic districts offer a visual range that other Canadian jurisdictions simply cannot match. Whether a director needs the gritty streets of mid-century New York, the rural expanse of the American Midwest, classic European aesthetics for France or the UK, or the stark, unforgiving expanse of Alaska—which was also simulated locally for The Last Frontier—Quebec has built a capacity for cinematic shapeshifting.
Even remote geographies are getting in on the action; a sequence for a recent Star Wars feature was captured in the shifting sands of the Îles-de-la-Madeleine, proving that the province’s geographical versatility extends far beyond standard urban street-dressing. As Mayday streams to audiences worldwide this week, the real success story isn’t just on the screen—it is in the permanent infrastructure and crew expertise that ensures Hollywood keeps dialing Montreal’s area code.
Drop a comment below: Did you spot Montreal’s disguised storefronts while watching Mayday, or were you too distracted by the Reynolds-Branagh dynamic?
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