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Wales Online
Wales Online
Entertainment
Philip Dewey

Cardiff skyline unrecognisable in Hollywood film starring Mark Wahlberg

A Hollywood movie filmed on the streets of Cardiff has transformed the city beyond recognition.

Production of the Mark Wahlberg blockbuster Infinite saw parts of Newport Road closed as filming took place in 2019. NYPD cars and gunfire were spotted as filming took place of a "major sequence".

And the film's release on Amazon Prime in October shows just how different Cardiff looks after being disguised using computer-generated imagery to build up the number of buildings in the background.

Read more: The people behind cleaning up Cardiff's streets after match day

The Cardiff skyline was dramatically transformed for the Hollywood film starring Mark Wahlberg (Image: © 2021 - Paramount+)

While landmarks such as St James the Great church is prominent in the foreground, the number of high rise buildings has been increased to give the impression of a New York cityscape.

Prior to the film's release, the trailer showed an Aston Martin smashing through the front of the Mercure Hotel on Newport Road.

The real view from Newport Road in Cardiff (Google)

But thankfully for the real-life hotel, the impressive-looking sequence appears to have been created using computer-generated imagery.

The movie was filmed in various locations across the UK but what has been described as a "major sequence" was filmed in Cardiff.

The road closure came into force from midnight October 26 until early on Tuesday, October 29.

Although it closed the busy road for two days, Cardiff council was paid less than £2,000 for its part in making it possible.

WalesOnline asked Cardiff council how much they were paid to close the road through a Freedom of Information request.

(David Williams/WALES NEWS SERVICE)

The local authority was asked to specify how much they were paid to close the road from midnight on Saturday, October 25, until Tuesday, October 29, at 6am.

The council said they were paid £1,450 for a temporary road closure license. They were also paid £250 plus VAT for a film permit.

Following the film's release, critics have slated the movie for “wooden acting”, “mindless pyrotechnic set-pieces”, and an “absolutely dire script” with the film currently sitting on a 16% critic rating and 34% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

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