Click to view news article from Tidewater Review

Who would have thought W. O. Grubb would make it to the big screen? One of W. O. Grubb's 200 ton All Terrain Cranes, a Demag AC535, and it's operator, George "Stump" Pennington, reached star status with the release of the new movie, "Evan Almighty". W. O. Grubb was contacted early last year by Universal City Studios about the possibility of using one of Grubb's Demag All Terrain Cranes in one of the scenes Universal was shooting in Crozet, Virginia.

In addition to securing a role on the big screen for its Demag, W. O. Grubb also secured work for several of its 60 ton RT’s building one of the main features of the movie, which was a biblical replica of Noah's Ark. The ark, which measured 450 feet long, 80 feet wide and 51 feet high, took roughly three months to construct.

During portions of shooting the "Great Flood" scene, director Tom Shadyac requested the supply of eight more Grubb 70 ton truck cranes to work behind-the-scenes assisting in holding rain bars and various sun filtering devices. The portion of the flood scene which include shots of "Stump" and the Demag took approximately 5 to 6 days to shoot on sight in Virginia. "Stump" was then requested for an additional two weeks in Universal City, CA for the rest of the shooting for the flood scene.

Originally, Universal had planned to use an actor to play the part of "crane operator", but after meeting and working with "Stump", on scene Universal decided that he was exactly what they were looking for. When asked if he was done with acting, Pennington stated "I wouldn't turn it down if I was asked but it isn't something I would pursue". He mentioned he enjoys what he does at W. O. Grubb.

"Evan Almighty" is due in theaters starting June 22, 2007. An HBO special, Evan Almighty: HBO First Look can also be seen now, which shows the making of the film and features W. O. Grubb's cranes.