Don’t
be surprised if one day while walking down the sidewalk in
Southport, North Carolina you pass Tom Cruise. Why? Southport, North
Carolina is a very popular place for movies. Many movies have used
Southport as their primary setting. There are also many movies that
use Southport for a portion of their scenes.
With 30 sound stages and seven major studio complexes,
North Carolina is the #3 filmmaking state, following only California
and New
York. Screen Gems Studios, located in nearby Wilmington,
North Carolina, has been around for over 20 years and has produced
over 300 film, television, and commercial productions. Perhaps this
is why Southport, North Carolina appears in so many films. Or maybe
it is just Southport’s tree lined streets, historic settings and
beautiful scenery that makes filming in Southport so popular.
Movies filmed in Southport, NC include Firestarter
(1984), Crimes of The Heart (1987), Weekend at Bernies (1989), Amos
and Andrew (1993), Inkwell (1994), I Know What You Did Last Summer
(1997), Night Flier (1997), Domestic Disturbance (2001), Summer
Catch (2001) and A Walk To Remember (2002).
The movie Crimes of The Heart, starring Sissy Spacek,
Diane Keaton, Jessica Lange and Tess Harper, filmed in Southport in
1987. The movie was primarily shot at the home located at 211
Caswell Avenue. Residents of Southport still refer to this house as
the “Crimes of The Heart” house. In addition to the house at 211
Caswell Avenue, other Southport locations that were used include
The
Old Brunswick County Jail, Dosher Memorial Hospital, The Masonic
Lodge and the
Olde Smithville Burying Grounds. Nearby Fort Caswell
and Orton Plantation were also used in the filming of the movie.
In 1989, the movie Weekend at Bernie’s, starring Andrew
McCarthy, Catherine Mary Stewart, Jonathan Silverman and Terry
Kiser, also filmed in Southport, NC. Most of the scenes filmed for
Weekend at Bernie’s were filmed at the
Bald Head Island ferry
landing and at different locations on the Cape Fear River.
The 1997 film I Know What You Did Last Summer filmed in
Southport at numerous locations. These locations include Dosher
Memorial Hospital, the Old Yacht Basin, the American Fish Company,
the Cape Fear River, the ILS Building, Ollie’s Oyster Bar, Port
Charlie’s Restaurant, the Southport Fish Company and Short Street.
The movie starred Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Geller,
Jennifer Love Hewitt and Ryan Phillippe.
Summer Catch, filmed Southport in 2001, also starred
Freddie Prinze, Jr. The movie also starred Jessica Biel, Brittany
Murphy, Beverly D’Angelo and Brian Dennehy. Southport locations used
for the film include Taylor Field (the old Southport High School
baseball field) and Howe Street.
In 2001, Domestic Disturbance was filmed in Southport.
Filming locations included Howe Street and the River Oaks Motel. The
River Oaks Motel’s name was changed to The Shady Tree Motel for the
filming of the movie. The movie starred John Travolta, Steve Buscemi,
Matthew O’Leary and Teri Polo.
A Walk To Remember, starring Mandy Moore, Daryl Hannah,
Shane West and Pete Coyote was filmed in Southport in 2002.
Southport areas that were featured in the movie include the
Ship’s
Chandler Restaurant, the ILS Building and Trinity United Methodist
Church.
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