Rock film 'CBGB' reunites Harry Potter stars in Savannah

Savannah muggles beware this summer - Ron Weasley is joining Professor Snape for a Hostess City Hogwarts reunion.

Actor Rupert Grint, who plays Harry Potter's best friend in the blockbuster adaptations of J.K. Rowling's wizardly novels, has signed on to the cast of rock flick-in-the-making "CBGB," its producers confirmed Tuesday morning. Alan Rickman, who played the mysterious Snape in the Potter films, already was slated to star as CBGB founder Hilly Kristal.

"We love Rupert and, of course, we adore Alan," said Nadine Jolson, director of publicity for Unclaimed Freight Productions, which was here last year for the movie "Savannah" starring Jim Caviezel.

Filming of "CBGB" will begin June 25 - "that's official," Jolson said. "We're just in pre-production, so right now a lot of details are falling into place as we speak."

All of the movie's interior shots will be done at Meddin Studios, which will be transformed to look like the iconic New York club, said director Randall Miller.

"We're going to build the interior of the club on the stages here," Miller said. "Then the plan is we'll do some shooting on the streets of downtown Savannah - and finally a few days in New York.

"We're using both Georgia and New York for New York," he joked.

Jolson said locations for the Savannah exteriors had been selected, but she

couldn't reveal them - yet. The same goes for surprise cast members - "there will be a whole lot more, some fun ones" - and celebrity cameos with "famous musicians playing roles or (playing) other famous musicians," she noted.

Jolson did confirm that Swedish-Canadian actress Malin Akerman, whose recent films include "Watchmen" and "Rock of Ages," has signed on to play Debbie Harry of rock band Blondie. Stana Katic of ABC detective series "Castle" also has joined the "CBGB" cast.

"I think this has the potential to be a great project," said Jay Self, the city's director of Film Services. "It looks to have pretty broad appeal, and we're very excited about it."

Self is encouraged by the quick turnaround from Unclaimed Freight's work last year to its plans for this summer.

"These guys did 'Savannah' here, and they obviously had a great experience," he said. "That says something about our community, about how welcoming, open and cooperative we are."

"Savannah has a kind of downtown area that could really work for so many cities," Miller said. "That translates pretty well in what we're doing."

But it also was his personal experience with Meddin Studios that brought him back.

"I formed a great friendship with Nick Gant," Meddin's creative director, Miller said. "I really like these guys."

For Gant, the feeling is mutual.

"It's a project we've been working on for probably 10 months now," he said. "We've been involved with this since before the script was ever written.

"They're doing the entire production here," Gant said. "This will basically be the headquarters for 'CBGB.'"

And a lot of Harry Potter fans, too.

For more info on the film, email cbgbthemovie@gmail.com.