ROULEAU, Sask. – Following about a month of shooting in Saskatchewan, the cast and crew of Corner Gas: The Movie are packing up.
The film won’t be released in theatres until December, but the final day in the fictional town of Dog River is being called bittersweet.
“Most people aren’t saying goodbye. It’s a lot of see you later. See you soon,” said actor and creator Brent Butt. “It’s looking better than how it was in my mind. The jokes are playing really, really well.”
Five years have passed since the Corner Gas characters appeared together on TV, but this time, the gang is dealing with a badly mismanaged town.
“Brent stayed very true to Corner Gas. It’s like classic Corner Gas, but heightened in the ways that it needs to be, and in the ways that it should be to make it a film,” said actor Gabrielle Miller, who plays Lacey.
The biggest challenge for Butt, in transforming a TV show into a movie, was sustaining momentum.
“If people are familiar with the TV show, it moves at a certain pace and a certain clip and you want to be able to provide that to the viewer, because that’s what they like,” said Butt. “But you also have to make it play differently cause it’s a 90-minute film.”
Unconventional for a Canadian feature is the film’s Kickstarter campaign, which allowed fans to buy themselves a role in the film.
“They’ve been phenomenal people. They’ve come from all over Canada. They’ve come from the United States. It’s been really interesting to talk to the American kickstarters and ask how they came across the show,” said Executive Producer Virginia Thompson.
Katrina Matwichuk’s dad paid $6,000 for the 18-year-old from Calgary to have a brief speaking role.
“Huge fan. I’ve watched every single episode. Seasons one through six,” said Matwichuk. “Slightly nervous but felling pretty good. Blocking went well and the cast are all really nice.”
As for whether, fans can expect a sequel, Butt says he’s not closing the door however: “You run the risk of it getting old and weird, us getting old and weird, and nobody wants that.”