If the two-story structure going up near the Old Main prison south of Santa Fe looks familiar, that's because it's a replica of Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan.

Filming is expected to begin at the site next week for Code Name: Geronimo -- one of two movies in the works about the Navy SEAL operation that killed the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Production designer Guy Barnes, a Santa Fe resident, said six carpenters and six painters began working on the frame structure two weeks ago and hope to finish next week.

"This is the kind of thing only people from here can do and do quickly," Barnes said. "That's why [the filmmakers] came here. Everybody has done a great job, and thankfully the weather has cooperated."

As the crew put the finishing touches on the compound, filming began this week at the Flying Tortilla Restaurant, 4250 Cerrillos Road, which stands in for a generic cafe in Virginia frequented by Navy SEALs.

Executive producer Tony Mark, who expects all local filming to be complete by the end of February, said he's moving quickly to get the film in theaters while the May 2 event in Pakistan remains fresh in Americans' minds.

"We didn't want to do a documentary because we don't have the secret, real information of who did what to whom," he said. "What we have is essentially, to a large measure, the same information that would be available to you if you did as thorough a job researching as you could."

Mark, who also lives in Santa Fe, was an executive producer of the 2008 combat film The Hurt Locker, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, who is working on a separate and currently untitled film about the killing of bin Laden.

Mark said Bigelow's project is a larger film with major stars, while his is a small-budget production with no major stars, but which is likely to be in theaters before Bigelow's film.

Code Name: Geronimo stars Kathleen Robertson (Boss and CSI Miami) as an eager CIA case officer who helps plan the raid. No other actors in the film have been identified. John Stockwell (Blue Crush and Into the Blue) is directing the film based on a script by Kendall Lampkin.

About 98 percent of the 100 crew members and 350 extras will be from Santa Fe, Mark said.

"In our film, the character of bin Laden is not really explored or examined," he said. "It's just really about the dynamics, at least in our imagination, of the guys who were sent on the mission as well as the decision-making process that we imagine might have been taking place in Washington, as well as the espionage actions that might have been taking place in Pakistan."

Mark had hoped to use parts of Santa Fe or Albuquerque to stand in for Pakistan, but the expense would be so great that those scenes will be shot somewhere overseas.

He declined to get into details about the plot, but added, "Let's just say bin Laden does not escape."

Contact Tom Sharpe at 986-3080 or tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.