'Venom' director Ruben Fleischer wanted film's setting to feel like 'real-life San Francisco'

Thomas Hardy in a scene filmed in San Francisco from the new trailer for the Sony Pictures film "Venom." Thomas Hardy in a scene filmed in San Francisco from the new trailer for the Sony Pictures film "Venom." Photo: Sony Pictures Photo: Sony Pictures Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close 'Venom' director Ruben Fleischer wanted film's setting to feel like 'real-life San Francisco' 1 / 9 Back to Gallery

Warning: mild "Venom" spoilers ahead.

Ruben Fleischer wants his version of San Francisco to feel authentic.

The "Venom" director, who actually filmed parts of the Marvel antihero flick around the city, told Uproxx this week that he wasn't looking to present an exaggerated version of San Francisco, but rather a "grounded" one.

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"The world in which it takes place, we wanted to feel very grounded and of reality, not a heightened world, but real-life San Francisco – where this journalist unexpectedly goes through a transformation that results in a larger-than-life experience," he said.

He notes that star Tom Hardy, who plays involuntary symbiote host Eddie Brock, "sets the tone" of the film while "dealing with this homeless mystery that's taking place there."

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The "mystery" Fleischer refers to is one Brock chases as an investigative reporter. Brock discovers that numerous homeless people are going missing. After a tip, he begins to uncover that billionaire Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed) is attempting to attach extraterrestrial symbiotes to humans — or more specifically, homeless human test subjects. In the course of Brock's investigation, he encounters and ultimately melds with — you guessed it — Venom.

"Venom" debuts in theaters Friday.

Alyssa Pereira is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at apereira@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @alyspereira.



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