In early October «Igor Tolstunov's Production Company» («PROFIT») began the final stage of filming the disaster movie «Metro», based on the novel of the same name by Dmitry Safonov. These days work on the film is taking place in the Samara metro – that is where the scenes set in metro stations are being shot. The Samara underground thus stands in for the Moscow one, where the events described in the script unfold.
Working on such a large-scale project in the Moscow metro is difficult. Passenger flow there is too heavy at any time of day, and it is impossible to shoot mass scenes involving hundreds of specially trained people without disrupting the metro's normal operation. That is why the film's producers decided to send the crew to the city on the Volga. Together with the director, cinematographers, production designers and stunt team, the actors playing the leading roles travelled there as well: Sergei Puskepalis, Anatoly Bely, Alexey Bardukov, Ekaterina Shpitsa, Elena Panova, Anfisa Medvedeva, as well as Stanislav Duzhnikov, Sergei Sosnovsky, Alexander Naumov, Ivan Makarevich and others.
Filming in the Samara metro does not disrupt the train schedule or the work of the stations. Preparatory work is carried out late in the evening, when passenger flow in the metro is minimal, and station filming takes place at night.
Samara residents are not only able to use the underground freely, they even take part in the shoot. In late September the crew was looking for actors among local theatre performers for cameo roles. In addition, there was an open casting for mass and group scenes — anyone who passed the initial selection could take part.