Abhiroop Das
Helmed by Joe Carnahan, ‘Copshop’ begins with Teddy Murretto crashing into the town of Gun Creek, where he is quickly put behind bars by a rookie police officer named Valerie Young. However, what she doesn’t realize yet is that the man she just locked up is a master conman who engineered the entire scenario to avoid an imminent assassination in the best way he knows. But when a hitman named Bob Viddick does the same trick and ends up in the cell next door, Teddy suddenly realizes that he is trapped in the worst possible place he could be. Both these contrasts come together through the setting: Gun Creek Police Station, which serves as the backdrop for almost the entirety of the movie. As we journey through its fluorescent-lit rooms, cushy cabins, and ominous holding cells, the story takes on a life of its own, entirely through the visuals.
Copshop is a Fictional Police Station Brought to Life Through Sets in Atlanta
While it serves as the primary setting for the majority of ‘Copshop,’ Gun Creek Police Station is a fictional construct developed by writers Kurt McLeod, Joe Carnahan, and Mark Williams. To that end, it exists firmly within the realms of the movie and likely does not bear a direct connection to any real-life locations. The only detail that we come to know about Gun Creek is that it is situated somewhere in Nevada, which means that it may have loosely drawn reference from the many rugged small towns that define the Battle Born State. Notably, Gun Creek’s name partially overlaps with that of Cold Creek, an unincorporated community in Nevada, but as of writing, the creators have not commented on any such connection, making it an unlikely angle.
Gun Creek Police Station’s origins are likely rooted in the Western archetype of small-town stations, commonly used as a backdrop for old-school action flicks. Given that ‘Copshop’ incorporates many such storytelling elements from classic Western movies, this is not a far-fetched idea. Another possible tie-in lies in the movie’s premise itself, which frames its characters in an intentionally constricted space. A police station serves as a perfect setting in such a scenario, and it is likely that the crew conceptualized the plot first and then framed the police station’s design around it.
A large part of what makes Gun Creek Police Station leap out of the screen is its sleek design, for which the crew set up camp at Shadowbox Studios, formerly known as Blackhall Studios. While the station is set in Nevada on-screen, in reality, it was filmed at 1415 Constitution Road Southeast, in the city of Atlanta. This sprawling production facility boasts 9 soundstages, which have helped with the making of acclaimed titles such as ‘Godzilla: King of Monsters,’ ‘Venom,’ ‘The Family Plan, and ‘The Color Purple’ under its belt. The crew of ‘Copshop’ reportedly made full use of the facility’s many features, soundstages, and even the backlots, with elaborate set work, while possibly relying on the cityscapes of Albuquerque for the exterior shots to give the police station its iconic look.
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