Filming draws crowd, but it's not the first time Ogden's been the backdrop for a movie or TV show

OGDEN — The lure of a big blast drew many on Tuesday to the city-owned parking garage off the northeast corner of 24th Street and Grant Avenue in Ogden.

"It's cool to hear that a car's going to get exploded," said Taylor Handy, one of many standing vigil from the upper floors of the garage for a view of the parking lot across Grant Avenue behind the former U.S. Post Office building there.

Jason Wright was also present. "Of course I wanted to see a car explode," he said.

The makers of "Marshals," a spinoff of the Paramount TV series "Yellowstone," came to Ogden to film an upcoming episode of the CBS program, including the aforementioned car explosion scene. The controlled blast seemingly went off without a hitch, a loud bang followed by flames and heavy smoke billowing from what looked like a sports utility vehicle.

But the explosion wasn't the only scene filmed in Ogden, and Caren Werner, regional film specialist in Weber County for the Utah Film Commission, said "Marshals" is part of a long list of television programs and movies that have been filmed in Weber County. Filming in Ogden for the upcoming "Marshals" episode also included a protest scene outside the former U.S. Post Office building, which now houses private offices, and the filming was to continue on Wednesday.

"We're a film-ready community. It's a certification through the Utah Film Commission," Werner said. "Ogden city is very film-friendly."

"The Sandlot," perhaps, sits atop the list of films with footage from Ogden, a swimming pool scene in the 1993 comedy filmed at the city-owned Lorin Farr Pool. But Werner noted that "Yellowstone" frequently filmed in Ogden during its five-season run and that Lifetime and Hallmark films have also been filmed in the city, among others.

Historic 25th Street, a retail and dining hub, is a big draw for filmmakers. "It's the charm. Historic 25th Street can be Anytown, USA," she said.

The crew for "Marshals" operates out of Utah Film Studios in Park City, as with "Yellowstone" before it, making the Ogden and Weber County areas a prime candidate for filming due to proximity. The Utah Film Commission, moreover, provides incentives to filmmakers, though they're now mainly available for filming in more rural areas away from the Wasatch front.

A silent protest and explosion

While numerous productions have been filmed in and around Ogden, this week's "Marshals" scenes perhaps made more of a public splash because of a notice the city of Ogden posted to social media on Monday. The post warned of "controlled special effects" and "brief traffic holds" around the filming location, enough to lure Handy, Wright and many others.

The premise of the program filmed here, to air in mid-December as the 10th episode of season 2, isn't crystal clear to Werner. But she said the building at the northwest corner of 24th Street and Grant Avenue is supposed to represent a courthouse in Helena, Montana, where "Marshals" is set. A protest of some sort figures in the episode.

"Marshals" stars Luke Grimes as Kayce Dutton, a member of an elite U.S. Marshals unit who uses his varied skills "to bring range justice to Montana," according to the CBS synopsis of the program. In "Yellowstone," he played the son of John Dutton, portrayed by Kevin Costner, the star of that series.

Actors and extras milled around 24th Street and Grant Avenue during Tuesday's filming, some variously wearing Helena Police Department and U.S. Department of Homeland Security garb. Multiple cars marked as Helena Police Department or DHS vehicles were also parked in the area. Werner was present for part of the filming Tuesday and said two of the series' stars, Ash Santos and Tatanka Means, were in the city, though not Grimes.

"All I saw was a silent protest and a stunt double get blown up by a car," she said. She also saw the car explosion scene.

Wright, one of the many spectators watching the filming, said he has never seen "Marshals." He joked that the explosion scene would bear on whether he searches out the program for future viewing. "I'll go binge watch it after that if the explosion is good," he said.

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