That Time REAL District Was A Movie Set

April 15, 2026 is National Film Day in Canada and REAL District was once the site of a movie production.

In 2016, “Chokeslam,” a romantic comedy which centered around professional wrestling was filmed in the building before the Regina Exhibition Stadium was demolished. The movie premiered at the Calgary International Film Festival and starred Saskatchewan born Micheal Eklund and legendary WWE wrestler, Mick Foley.

The production involved many local residents who answered the call for crew and extras.

Jason Hunt worked as a location specialist for the film says “it was very interesting to work in there. Typical old building but just knowing the history behind all of it was a pleasure to work there.” One memory stands out for Hunt, “looking at the arena from the floor imagining professional wrestlers used to come here all the time and no heat there at night it kind of got a little cold.”

Deanna Kirkpatrick and her kids answered the call as extras.

“I have fond memories of being an extra in the stadium scenes of ‘Chokeslam.’  My kids, who were 13 and 8 at the time, were huge wrestling fans. We couldn’t miss the opportunity to be a small part of the movie. We were there over the course of a few days. I believe I even took them out of school one day to be there!” says Kirkpatrick. “It was a fantastic setting, and I believe one of the last events held there. We got to meet Mick Foley, and he chatted with us several times and signed my son’s replica belt. While shooting, we even got to see Chelsea Green in action before she became the big WWE star she is today.”

REAL takes pride in creating memories and Kirkpatrick shares a favourite, “one of the things that stood out to me is that by filming just a small group of extras in the corner of the stadium, using camera angles and what I assume would be CGI, made it look like the stadium was full in the movie itself. I remember being hoarse from cheering and booing on command. Of course, we were told who to cheer for, and who would be the villain! I also remember sitting around the stadium, the kids doing their homework, and waiting to be called to set. It was a great memory for us, the stadium, and the City of Regina.”

Even though the Stadium came down in 2017, there were millions of memories created as part of its history of REAL.