Mickey Rourke coming to Tampa Bay to play Zeus in a movie

ST. PETERSBURG — Mickey Rourke, known for his roles in “9½ Weeks,” “Angel Heart,” “The Wrestler” and “Iron Man II,” will be in Tampa Bay next week to play Zeus in his next movie, “Mother Nature and the Doomsday Prepper.”

In the film, “Mother Nature will lose her job unless she convinces a fanatic doomsday prepper there is hope for the future of the planet,” said Christian Cashmir, who is producing and directing the movie. “She comes to Earth and meets this doomsday prepper who is her total opposite. It’s a romantic comedy mixed with fantasy.”

The 14-day shoot spans Feb. 21 to March 12 and includes six days in Cashmir’s 12,000-square-foot Litewave Studios in St. Petersburg, where they will re-create Mount Olympus through sets and an LED wall that projects virtual worlds during the filming.

“It’s totally immersive,” Cashmir said. “For the actors, it feels like they’re really there.”

The other eight days of filming will occur throughout Tampa Bay — at The Getaway in St. Petersburg, the Pinellas Park Performing Arts Center, the Courtney Campbell Causeway in Tampa and other locales. Tampa Bay will be mentioned throughout the movie to promote the area.

“Some of the scenes were written to specifically showcase our beautiful area,” producer Cameron Brumbelow said.

The movie will also put locals to work, Cashmir said, by hiring 50 crew members and 10 to 15 actors in leading roles, including St. Petersburg’s Paul Wilson.

“To be able to work with the people you trust in your hometown on a project that my kids and maybe one day my grandkids will enjoy is very special,” Wilson said. “It’s a fun movie with a message.”