PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Philadelphia gets another close-up! A movie featuring action star Jason Statham (below right) is being shot in Center City.

(File photo)

Someone stumbling into the historic Bellevue Hotel, at Broad and Locust Streets (above), early Wednesday morning might have been alarmed.

It was just a scene from the new movie Safe, directed by Boaz Yakin.

“Actually, Philadelphia is doubling for New York,” said Yakin. ”We shot about three weeks in New York, and then the rest is Philadelphia locations. There’s a good tax incentive here, makes it worth shooting your film here.”

Those tax credits have been targeted for elimination by members of the Pennsylvania legislature as unfairly favoring one industry. But the Greater Philadelphia Film Office says that without the credits, the city would lose hundreds of millions of dollars in business from production companies.

Yakin says there are other reasons he likes shooting in Philadelphia:

“I’m enjoying it. People here are really accommodating and really nice.”

Something to keep in mind if you’re driving in Center City late at night this week: parts of South Broad Street will be closed for filming.

Reported by Pat Loeb, KYW Newsradio 1060.