Film crews transform downtown Atlanta into vintage New York scene for ‘Anchorman’ sequel

ATLANTA – Part of downtown Atlanta has been transformed into a movie set designed to look like New York City as it appeared more than three decades ago.

Filming this week of a sequel for the 2004 film “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” features vintage New York taxi cabs, graffiti-painted walls, a pay telephone and fake storefronts along Atlanta’s famous Peachtree Street.

The filming in the city’s central business district was expected to continue on Friday.

On Thursday in Woodruff Park, more than a dozen actors armed with baseball bats and hockey sticks filmed a large brawl reminiscent of the 1979 film “The Warriors.”

A newsstand set up on Peachtree Street includes copies of old Life magazines and New York tabloids with headlines from 1980. A New York Daily News cover includes the headline “Bush Upsets Reagan in Mich.”

The film’s stars include Will Ferrell and Steve Carell.

Atlanta is one of several filming sets for the movie. Earlier this month, film crews battled heavy winds and rain to film scenes involving a mechanical shark on a pier off the Georgia coast.