After earlier industry speculation, The Prague Reporter can exclusively confirm that production on Apple TV+ and Legendary Entertainment‘s upcoming Monsterverse spinoff centered on Colonel Lee Shaw is now underway in Prague. The project is using the title Birdwatcher during its Czech production, which may be a working title.
Rumors linking the production to Prague have circulated since 2025, fueled by trade reports and production listings. As of this weekend, the Monarch: Legacy of Monsters spin-off is shooting on location in Prague. Filming is expected to take place both in Prague and elsewhere in Czechia across the summer months.
The project is the latest in a string of high-profile international projects to choose the Czech Republic as a production base this year, further strengthening Prague’s position as one of Europe’s busiest filming hubs for major studio and streaming productions.
Birdwatcher emerges as working title for Monsterverse spin-off
Although Apple TV+ and Legendary have not announced an official title for the series, the production is operating under the working title Birdwatcher during production in Czechia. The project has been registered with the Czech Audiovisual Fund under that title, and local municipal documentation related to filming logistics also reference Birdwatcher.
Industry sources connected to the production also use the designation. United Agents, representatives for Andy Goddard, state that he is currently serving as director and executive producer on the “upcoming 1980s Cold War spy thriller Birdwatcher starring Wyatt Russell for Apple TV+ and Legendary Entertainment.”
In the May issue of Location International magazine, Czech Film Commissioner Pavlína Žipková discusses international productions filming in the country this year, and references the project under the title The American Birdwatcher.
Stillking Films, one of the Czech Republic’s leading production service companies, has registered the project with the Czech Audiovisual Fund and will coordinate local production activities.
The series is expected to combine extensive studio work with location filming. Given its Monsterverse setting and anticipated visual effects requirements, primary production will likely take place on sound stages. However, The Prague Reporter can confirm that location filming is also planned, including in Prague itself. The project is currently filming in the Prague 3 district as of writing, and additional locations across central Prague have been reserved in July.
The timing coincides with the completion of principal photography on the fourth season of Apple TV+’s Foundation, which is currently filming in Czechia through July 11. The overlap could indicate that the new Monsterverse series might make use of Prague Studios facilities once they become available.
Wyatt Russell returns as Lee Shaw in Cold War adventure
The untitled series was first announced by Apple TV+ in December 2025 as part of a broader expansion of Legendary’s Monsterverse television slate.
Set in 1984, the story follows Colonel Lee Shaw as he embarks on a covert mission behind enemy lines to prevent the Soviet Union from unleashing a new Titan capable of devastating the United States and altering the balance of the Cold War.
Wyatt Russell will reprise the role he inherited from his father, Kurt Russell, in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. The character became one of the breakout elements of the Apple TV+ series, which explored multiple timelines connected to the secretive Monarch organization and the emergence of giant creatures known as Titans.
Questions initially surrounded the future for both versions of Lee Shaw following the conclusion of the first season. Speaking recently to The Hollywood Reporter, the younger Russell revealed that the new spin-off is already well into development and expressed enthusiasm about its direction.
“We are shooting it this summer, and I’ve read the scripts. They’re very well written. I’m more excited to start working on this than I have been about anything in a long time,” Russell said.
He also suggested that audiences should expect something markedly different from Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.
“The genre that the Lee Shaw show will live in is totally separate from the genre that Monarch lives in,” Russell said. “By early on in the show, people are going to be like, ‘This is wild. This is so different from what I thought I was going to be watching — in the best way.'”
The project is being overseen by Joby Harold, who serves as showrunner and is also responsible for guiding Legendary’s broader Monsterverse slate for Apple TV+. His previous credits include Obi-Wan Kenobi, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.
The new series joins an increasingly impressive roster of international productions currently filming in Prague in 2026. Major projects working in the Czech capital this year include Martin Scorsese’s What Happens at Night, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence; the fourth season of Foundation, which remains in production heading into June; Netflix’s The Age of Innocence, which wrapped in March; and the John le Carré adaptation Legacy of Spies, also currently filming in the city.
The upcoming Dan Brown adaptation The Secret of Secrets is also slated to begin production in Prague later this year.
Lead photo: Godzilla in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters / Prague courtesy DepositPhotos.com. Montage: The Prague Reporter
