Disney movie production temporarily shuts down Manzanares.
Russell Huffman | El Defensor Chieftain

Many Socorro hotel rooms were booked and part of Manzanares was blocked off the last week of April because filming began on an as yet untitled Disney film that reimagines “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.”

The movie stars Eva Longoria and Cheech Marin. The production will employ over 500 New Mexicans, 10 as principal actors, 245 as background talent, and 323 as crew members.

Shooting was scheduled in Socorro from Wednesday through Friday, and the production was set up at the Garcia Opera House and on Manzanares near the Val Verde Hotel.

The film centers on a Mexican-American family who have lost their connection “to each other and their roots, who embark on an epic road trip that immediately goes hilariously wrong,” according to an NM Film Office press release.

The film still has an open casting call for background and specialty roles, and shooting was set to begin in and around Albuquerque.

Cathy Cook | El Defensor Chieftain Editor