Everything we know about Alberta-shot series ‘Under The Banner of Heaven’

In 2021, our province was spoiled rotten by the casts and crew of big-budget productions like HBO’s The Last Of Us. But, while some sets have been open to the public and often photographed, other shows in the area have chosen to be sneaky. Starring Andrew Garfield (The Amazing Spiderman, Tick, Tick… BOOM) and Daisy Edgar-Jones (Normal People), Under The Banner of Heaven, is one that’s kept us scratching our heads. Here’s everything we know about the series so far!

Produced by Ron Howard, directed by David Mckenzie, and written in part by Academy Award-winning filmmaker, Dustin Lance Black (J. Edgar, Milk), the highly anticipated limited series will bring the real-life 1984 tragedy of Brenda Lafferty to the small screen as told by true-crime novelist Jon Krakauer. 

In a story of polygamy, delusion, and violence, the series will focus on Pyre (Garfield) a detective who begins to question his faith after an encounter with Ron and Dan Lafferty, who were both charged with the murder of their Sister-In-Law Brenda (Edgar-Jones) and her infant daughter.

Recent Posts
Google’s official Christmas countdown and Santa tracker is now live with games, quizzes & more
It looks like Vancouver might get a white Christmas this year

Other notable actors appearing in the series include Rory Kulkin (Signs), Sam Worthington (Avatar), and Wyatt Russel from 22 Jump Street; though there haven’t been many reports of seeing the UTBOH actors since Garfield took a photo with a fan in Calgary’s Beebop Donuts in August.

Of course, this can’t be said for the entire crew.

Documented heavily by Olympic gold medalist and husband, Tom Daley – series writer Dustin Lance Black has been spotted all over Calgary – taking pictures with fans and new friends from Twisted Element Night Club to 8th Avenue.

Unfortunately, according to his most recent Instapost, you probably won’t see him around for much longer as they’ve officially wrapped for the season – but don’t feel bad if you missed all the action. As we said, they were pretty secretive.

“After a decade of struggle and the help of so many dedicated artists, that’s a wrap on #UTBOH. Too many pics and thanks for one post so this is only the first of many. Now time for a very long nap,” Lance Black wrote.

While here, it was actually pretty rare to see UTBOH camera crews out and about – though they couldn’t hide everything from us! Just last week, footage was taken of a very public Stephen Avenue set, where the streets were lined with ’80s-era vehicles and neon signs.

In addition to this, both Carstairs and Strathmore confirmed that the series was filming in town over the last few months, with scenes set at a hotel and an old police station.

Of course, to see the show in all of its Alberta-shot glory we’ll actually have to wait until late 2022, early 2023 for it to premiere, so be patient folks!

They really got us with this one, but we can’t wait to see it!