Over the weekend, the streets of Leeds was lined with onlookers hoping to get a glimpse of Hollywood legends like Samuel L Jackson and Emilia Clarke as they were out filming for their new Marvel series, Secret Invasion.
Over the entire weekend, Bond Court, Greek Street, Alexander Street and Gusto alleyway between Greek Street and Bond Court were closed off to the public for filming.
Popular restaurant, Blackhouse has transformed into the movie set, where the restaurant signage and street signs changed into Russian for filming.
Tattu and Blackhouse were main filming spots for the Marvel series. / Image: George Garforth
Meanwhile, neighbouring restaurant Tattu was used as a crew area and outside onlookers could see a Russian taxi and expensive cars that were being used to film the series.
Throughout the day, both Samuel L Jackson and Emilia Clarke were seen on multiple occasions alongside cast member Ben Mendelsohn.
Hundreds of people queued up to try and catch a glimpse of Hollywood's greatest Marvel cast, but many were turned away due to the set's viewpoint capacity. If you missed out on the cast in Leeds, you'll find them a mere thirty minutes from the city centre, filming in Halifax's Piece Hall.
Over in Halifax, the Piece Hall will be shut from today, Monday 24 January and Monday 31 January for filming. It is rumoured that there will be 260 members of cast and extras, plus an additional 200 crew members taking part throughout the TV show’s weeklong stay in Halifax.
MP for Halifax, Holly Lynch shared on Twitter that the celebrity appearances are going to be a great opportunity for Yorkshire.
A Russian taxi was spotted at filming in Leeds. / Image: The Hoot Leeds
“Not to coolest quote I’ve ever given but this is awesome! I confess to being a massive Marvel geek and so the prospect of filming taking place here in Halifax is incredibly exciting!”
This is what we know about the series Secret Invasion so far:
“Secret Invasion is an upcoming American television miniseries created by Kyle Bradstreet for the streaming service Disney+, based on the Marvel Comics storyline of the same name“.
Filming took place outside Blackhouse. / Image: The Hoot Leeds
Samuel L Jackson will play Nick Fury, the former director of S.H.I.E.L.D who is working with Skrulls in deep space; Ben Mendelsohn will play Talos, the leader of the Skrull sect and an ally of Fury, and Kingsley Ben-Adir has been cast as the lead villain.
At the moment, there’s no further information about the roles of the rest of the cast, only that the series will be six episodes long and all the revealed cast will feature in at least one episode.
A Leeds pizza takeaway has received a glowing review from popular review duo.
Edges Pizza opened up their first permanent spot in Leeds back in June this year, after making a name for themselves slinging out pizzas at multiple pop-ups across the city.
Owners Grace and Edge from Harrogate opened Edges Pizza two years ago, taking inspiration from trips to New York over the years.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Their pizzas are a love letter to the class New York slice, think thin and crispy rather than chewy and floppy. But above all else, think absolutely delicious.
And now, they've caught the attention of a major review page, with Bite Twice Food Reviews (a page with almost 300k followers) paying Edges a visit.
The food review duo of Gerry del Guercio and Paul Delany popped up in Holbeck beneath the arches to get their hands on a pizza, and the outcome is brilliant.
In the video, Bite Twice said that the pizza is 'f**cking exceptional' and up there with 'one of the best pizzas in the UK'.
Before even taking a bite, they said: "On aesthetic, I don't think anywhere in the UK is doing pizza like this".
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Then after the first bite, they go on to say: "There are very few pizzas in the UK that create this, I’m a little bit blown away".
As Londoners themselves, they go on to say that Edges is 'easily hitting with the best that we’ve got down south'.
And if that's not high praise enough, they sign off the video saying: "Leeds has got an absolute gem. I give this a stamp so hard my foot went through the pizza. Edges. Don Level."
Yorkshire-set Christmas film by Leeds director starring Richard E. Grant set to hit UK cinemas next month
Clementine Hall
A brand-new Christmas film is hitting cinemas nationwide next month - and it’s a proper Leeds success story.
Jack Spring directed his first feature film at just 19 years old and has spent the last decade carving out a career in independent film, as well as co-founding Leeds-based production company Shush Films.
His first movie, Destination: Dewsbury, was shot just down the road in - you guessed it - Dewsbury. And after moving to Leeds from Grimsby, Jack became determined to build his business from the city, putting down roots and growing his production company here.
Image: Supplied
Now, after years of working on independent projects, Jack has taken his biggest leap yet with a brand-new Christmas film, Merry Christmas Aubrey Flint.
Set in Yorkshire, Merry Christmas Aubrey Flint follows Aubrey Flint, a reclusive model soldier painter with a lifelong hatred of Christmas, who is sentenced to community service at Willow Lodge - a retirement home on the brink of closure.
Roped into helping with a chaotic production of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Aubrey clashes with its interesting set of residents...
And the cast is about as star-studded as it gets, featuring Richard E. Grant, John Bradley, Celia Imrie, Adjoa Andoh, Sophia Di Martino, Adrian Rawlins and Kiell Smith-Bynoe.
Image: Supplied
The heartwarming festive comedy will hit cinemas nationwide on Friday 6 November - a huge milestone for a Leeds-based director and production company, taking a homegrown Yorkshire story to audiences across the country.
You just can't beat a proper wholesome British Christmas film, so you can best believe we'll be watching in the cinema, popcorn in hand.
Sophie Smith -
24th January 2022 
