Production on Birdwatcher, the working title of Apple TV+ and Legendary’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters spin-off, is now in full swing in Prague, with the Czech capital standing in for locations behind the Iron Curtain.
The Prague Reporter can reveal exclusive photos from the production, showing star Wyatt Russell on location alongside an array of period props and vehicles. The imagery points to a story set in the Soviet Union during the Cold War, with Russell’s Lee Shaw apparently operating undercover and under pursuit by the KGB.
The series has been filming across the Czech Republic since June, with locations ranging from Prague to the countryside. Local reports have now identified additional filming sites, including Prague’s Žižkov and Karlín districts, as well as locations outside the capital.
Wyatt Russell on the set of Birdwatcher in Žižkov. All photos © The Prague Reporter
Set photos reveal Cold War setting
The Prague Reporter’s exclusive set photos offer the clearest look yet at Birdwatcher‘s Cold War setting. Several images show period props featuring Cyrillic lettering, while others capture Russell in scenes that appear to depict his character moving covertly behind the Iron Curtain.
The imagery includes numerous Cold War-era details used to transform contemporary Czech locations into Soviet settings. Russell can be seen filming sequences in which Lee Shaw appears to be undercover, with other scenes depicting apparent pursuit by security forces.
The Cyrillic markings on props strongly suggest that Birdwatcher is portraying the Soviet Union, although the specific locations represented by the scenes have not been officially identified. Previous reports have placed the story in 1984, when Shaw is sent on a secret mission behind enemy lines to prevent the Soviet Union from unleashing a Titan capable of changing the course of the Cold War.
Production of Birdwatcher in Karlín. All photos © The Prague Reporter
The use of Prague and other Czech locations to double for Soviet-era settings is not new. The city’s architecture, streetscapes and preserved interiors have frequently been adapted to represent locations across Eastern Europe, while the Czech film industry has extensive experience recreating historical periods for international productions.
The photos also provide a glimpse of the scale of the production. While much of a Monsterverse series is expected to require studio work and visual effects, Birdwatcher is clearly making extensive use of practical locations across the country.
Local reports say the production spent 15 days filming around Ralsko before moving into Prague. It has also filmed at Prague’s Botanical Garden in Troja and at the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague in Suchdol. The production has used locations in the city of Žatec as well, while further Prague filming is scheduled through August and September.
Other filming locations in Prague include the Financial Office building on Kapitána Jaroše Embankment in Prague 7. According to the district, filming inside the building will take place on selected days through Aug. 24, with temporary restrictions on parking and the sidewalk outside to accommodate production vehicles.
Wyatt Russell leads Monsterverse Cold War story
Birdwatcher remains a working title rather than an officially announced name for the series. The project has been registered with the Czech Audiovisual Fund under that title, while Prague municipal documentation and local production notices have also used Birdwatcher.
The series stars Wyatt Russell as Lee Shaw, the character he previously played in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. The new story is set in 1984 and follows Shaw, an American operative and former military officer, on a mission behind Soviet lines. His objective is to stop the Soviet Union from releasing a devastating Titan that could destroy the United States and potentially alter the outcome of the Cold War.
Production of Birdwatcher in New Town. All photos © The Prague Reporter
Andy Goddard, who directed the season one finale of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, is directing and executive producing the new series. Joby Harold, an executive producer on the original series, serves as showrunner and is overseeing Legendary’s Monsterverse television projects for Apple TV+.
Stillking Films is handling Czech production. The Prague-based company has provided local production services for numerous major Hollywood productions, including Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Spider-Man: Far From Home, The Gray Man and Extraction II.
Russell recently told The Hollywood Reporter that production was scheduled for this summer and expressed particular enthusiasm for the scripts, describing the new series as substantially different in genre from Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.
“We are shooting it this summer, and I’ve read the scripts. They’re very well written,” Russell said. “I’m more excited to start working on this than I have been about anything in a long time.”
The actor added that viewers should expect a different kind of story from the original series, saying the Lee Shaw project would be “totally separate” in genre from Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.
Russell’s family has also been in Prague during the production period. His father, Kurt Russell, and mother Goldie Hawn were photographed in the Czech capital in July alongside Wyatt and half-brother Oliver Hudson. Kurt Russell played the older version of Lee Shaw in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, but he has not been announced as part of the Birdwatcher cast. His Prague visit may simply have been a family trip to see his son during production.
The Czech shoot places Birdwatcher among a particularly strong slate of international productions in Prague in 2026. Other major projects working in the city 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.
Netflix’s Dan Brown adaptation The Secret of Secrets, starring Morgan Spector and Rebecca Hall, will also begin production in the Czech capital later this week.
With filming now taking place across Prague and other Czech locations, Birdwatcher represents another major international production using the country’s infrastructure to recreate a world far beyond its borders, this time transforming contemporary Czechia into the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War.
