Paramount Pictures’ Roofman is more than just a stranger-than-fiction crime drama—it’s a story brought to life with an attention to detail that borders on obsessive. A new behind-the-scenes featurette takes audiences inside the film’s most astonishing set: a fully built Toys “R” Us, recreated from the ground up.

Directed by Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine, The Place Beyond the Pines), Roofman tells the true story of Jeffrey Manchester (Channing Tatum), a former Army Ranger and struggling father who became infamous for robbing McDonald’s restaurants by cutting through their roofs. After escaping prison, Manchester hid out inside a Toys “R” Us for six months, planning his next move—until his double life collided with romance and danger when he met Leigh (Kirsten Dunst), a divorced mom who sees something redeemable in him.

Bringing this wild chapter of Manchester’s life to the screen required a bold approach. “We built the actual Toys ‘R’ Us down to the inch,” Tatum explains in the featurette. “Jeffrey Manchester robbed 45 McDonald’s and ended up living in a toy store for six months.”

For Cianfrance, the recreation was essential. The director shares that his team traveled to North Carolina to scout for a big-box store they could convert into the toy wonderland. “It was a dream,” he says. Production designer Inbal Weinberg went further, making sure nearly everything inside the store worked. “Almost everything is actually functional, with real merchandise,” she notes.

That realism created some unexpected challenges. “People would come to the Toys ‘R’ Us wanting to buy toys, and we had to go, ‘Sorry, this is a movie set,’” Peter Dinklage recalls with a laugh.

For Kirsten Dunst, the immersion added something intangible. “There’s a level of authenticity that’s unspoken when you get to shoot in the actual places,” she says. Tatum agrees, adding: “Everything was real. I hope you feel it in the movie.”

Roofman opens exclusively in theaters October 10.