"Hawaii Five-0" will close a stretch of Kalakaua Avenue to traffic and pedestrians Sunday morning to create the illusion of an abandoned Waikiki for the show’s fifth-season premiere, according to Walea Constantinau, Honolulu Film Office commissioner.
Kalakaua will be closed in three phases, starting at 5 a.m. when two lanes will be closed, Constantinau said.
All lanes will be closed at 6 a.m. when the crime series shuts down Kalakaua between the point where it meets Kuhio Avenue up to Lewers Street. That will last until 9 a.m. when the closure will be shortened to Saratoga Road. Kalakaua will be reopened completely at 10 a.m.
The show’s location staff has gone door to door for the last few days telling businesses on the route, but Constantinau said the hour of the day should minimize any inconvenience to the public.
"We don’t take this kind of request lightly," she said. "We really talk this through, and we really try to figure out what is the least disruptive time. They need to be commended for their commitment to do it on a Sunday morning. They don’t normally work on weekends."
No actors will be on set, so you won’t miss anything if you sleep in.
"Because this is supposed to look like a deserted Waikiki, there are no actors, no action," Constantinau said. "It’s just empty. They really don’t want the public to be out there because it wrecks the shots."
Peter Lenkov, the show’s executive producer, hinted at this scene when production resumed earlier this month.
"In the premiere episode you’re going to see the island like you’ve never seen it before," he said at the time. "And it’s going to be abandoned. It’s going to look like a ghost town. Yes. A million people will have disappeared, and we’ll wonder why."
The episode will screen first for Hawaii fans during a red-carpet celebration Sept. 13 at Sunset on the Beach. The network premiere of the fifth season will be Sept. 26.
