Marvel's 'Ant-Man' begins filming in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The next member of Marvel Comics' comic book characters to get his own movie will spend at least part of it in San Francisco as principal photography for "Ant-Man" begins Tuesday in the city, Marvel Studios officials announced.

"Ant-Man" stars Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas and is set for release on July 17, 2015. Rudd will play the title character, who can shrink his size but increase his strength using a specially engineered suit, while Douglas will play his mentor.

About 200 crew members were out on the corners of Jones and Ellis streets filming and trying to create a rainy scene.

Crews are only shooting a small portion of the film in San Francisco, but it adds up to more than two weeks of work for dozens of local grips and technicians.

It also means overtime pay for police, business for catering companies, porta potty rentals, and of course extras.

Mildred Cole worked as an extra Tuesday.

"I was in the part of getting wet. Getting off the bus," Cole said. "We must have done the scene about seven times. It's very fun. I'm enjoying myself."

Cole is no stranger to working as an extra. The last time Cole worked on a movie was during the filming of the "Pursuit of Happyness," which was the only other movie she's seen filmed in the city in her 25 years of living in San Francisco.

Some would argue the reason more movies aren't filmed in San Francisco is a simple one -- money. California may be the birthplace of the movie industry, but more and more films are choosing to shoot in other states like Georgia and Louisiana that offer huge tax incentives.

"These are millions and millions of dollars being spent on these productions and thousands of jobs that we are losing," Susannah Greason Robbins, San Francisco Film Commission Director, said.

That's why San Francisco's Film Commission is backing a state bill that would increase tax incentives to keep movies in the California.

With a Senate vote as soon as Thursday, they're even staging a Wednesday morning rally in Sacramento featuring the cast of ABC Family's "Pretty Little Liars."

"I think that if we are able to pass this bill, that we will gain those jobs back, we'll keep those middle class film and TV production jobs," Greason added.

And maybe give a day's work to some folks who are struggling.

"I'm staying here at the homeless shelter here, and I heard about tryouts for being an extra here and I hopped on it," Heather Dikes, an extra, said.

Marvel did not say how long the production will be shooting in San Francisco, but said that the movie will also be filmed in Atlanta.

Ant-Man will be the next character to join the "Marvel Cinematic Universe," a world of characters that cross over in each other's films and includes members of the Avengers like Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and most recently the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Bay City News contributed to this story.