June 2, 2013 – Downtown Chicago will have some role in a science fiction film being produced and we do not mean Transformers 4. A helicopter, presumably for filming, will not only fly over downtown but pending permission from the Chicago city council, take off and land in one of the nation’s most dense urban centers.

Alderman Brendan Reilly, whose 42nd Ward includes much of the Loop and neighborhoods to the north, introduced a city council ordinance last month to allow Warner Bros. Pictures to “conduct landings and takeoffs of rotary-wing aircraft in such portions of downtown Chicago.”

Through its affiliate, Rozar Pictures, LLC, the studio is planning to use parts of downtown for Jupiter Ascending, a film set in the distant future that will be written, produced, and directed by Chicago natives Andrew and Lana Wachowski, who created The Matrix and two sequels.

Mila Kunis stars in the film as Jupiter Jones, a young woman destined to rule the universe but who must first dodge an assassin, played by Channing Tatum, sent by the current queen. The film is currently shooting in the United Kingdom through June and will then move to Chicago for four to six weeks. It will be released on July 25, 2014.

(Left) Extras on a set in the U.K. of Jupiter Ascending in a photo released by Warner Bros.

Ordinance O2013-3394 was introduced on May 8 and assigned to the Committee on Transportation and Public Way, which has recommended it be approved by the full city council.

Meanwhile, local location scouts have been hired by Paramount Pictures to find locales for Transformers 4, still set to shoot in Chicago in August and September – possibly as early as July and as late as October. Production staff should start arriving later this month.

Specific locations are still not known. Al Cohn, the film’s location manager, has politely and patiently declined comment since late April.

 Related story: More Transformers filming expected in August