Reeves-Bullock Film to Help Illinois Lake

WILLOW SPRINGS, Ill. (AP) _ Environmentalists are giving the green light to a new Warner Bros. project that involves restoring a popular lake at a Cook County forest preserve. <br/><br/>Many scenes for

Monday, April 18th 2005, 10:10 am

By: News On 6

WILLOW SPRINGS, Ill. (AP) _ Environmentalists are giving the green light to a new Warner Bros. project that involves restoring a popular lake at a Cook County forest preserve.

Many scenes for the romantic drama ``Il Mare,'' starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, will be filmed at a glass-sided house built by Warner Bros. near Maple Lake, about 15 miles southwest of Chicago.

In addition to a $100,000 shooting fee, Warner Bros. Pictures agreed to pay for much of the $40,000 needed to stabilize the shoreline and pay for new wetland plantings that the Cook County Forest Preserve District already had planned.

``Everybody at the table said this is a cool project,'' said Doug Chien of the Sierra Club, referring to a meeting to inform several environmental groups.

Filming began last week and affects 300 feet of the lake's shoreline. The rest of the manmade lake remains open to anglers.

The movie, scheduled for release in 2006, will include scenes in Chicago's Millennium Park, its Wrigleyville neighborhood and the suburbs of Oak Park, Riverside and Aurora.