Known as “Hollywood East” or “Wilmywood,” Southeastern North Carolina has long been a center of film production. Feature films made here range from small indie fare to big budget behemoths. Here’s a list in order of year of release:
Firestarter (1984)
Cat’s Eye (1985)
Fix, The (1985)
Marie: A True Story (1985)
Silver Bullet (1985)
Year of the Dragon (1985)
Blue Velvet (1986)
King Kong Lives (1986)
Manhunter (1986)
Maximum Overdrive (1986)
No Mercy (1986)
Bedroom Window, The (1987)
Crimes of the Heart (1987)
Date with an Angel (1987)
Evil Dead II (1987)
From the Hip (1987)
Hiding Out (1987)
Raw Deal (1987)
Squeeze, The (1987)
Trick or Treat (1987)
Weeds (1987)
Dracula’s Widow (1988)
Traxx (1988)
Weekend at Bernie’s (1988)
Collision Course (1989)
Cyborg (1989)
Dream a Little Dream (1989)
Little Monsters (1989)
Track 29 (1989)
Betsy’s Wedding (1990)
Everybody Wins (1990)
Exorcist III, The (1990)
Loose Cannons (1990)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II” The Secret of the Ooze (1990)
Tune In Tomorrow… (1990)
29th Street (1991)
Billy Bathgate (1991)
Butcher’s Wife, The (1991)
Rambling Rose (1991)
Sleeping with the Enemy (1991)
Alan & Naomi (1992)
Amos & Andrew (1993)
Household Saints (1993)
Spies (1993)
Super Mario Bros. (1993)
Chasers (1994)
Crow, The (1994)
Hudsucker Proxy, The (1994)
Inkwell, The (1994)
It Runs in the Family (1994)
Radioland Murders (1994)
Road to Wellville, The (1994)
Empire Records (1995)
Fall Time (1995)
Once Upon a Time… When We Were Colored (1995)
Grave, The (1996)
To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday (1996)
Any Place But Home (1997)
Bloodmoon (1997)
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
Jackal, The (1997)
Lolita (1997)
Night Flier, The (1997)
This World, then the Fireworks (1997)
Traveller (1997)
Black Dog (1998)
Shadrach (1998)
Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, The (1999)
Muppets From Space (1999)
My Teacher’s Wife (1999)
Virus (1999)
28 Days (2000)
Dress Code, The (2000)
Takedown (2000)
Waterproof (2000)
Black Knight (2001)
Ding-a-ling-less (2001)
Domestic Disturbance (2001)
Morgan’s Ferry (2001)
Sheriff (2001)
Summer Catch (2001)
Walk to Remember, A (2002)
Angel Doll, The (2002)
Butterfly Hunters, The (2002)
Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, The (2002)
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002)
New Best Friend (2002)
Ball of Wax (2003)
Touch of Fate, A (2003)
20 Funerals (2004)
Dixie Queen (2004)
Fort Fisher Hermit: The Life & Death of Robert E. Harrill, The (2004)
Pavilion, The (2004)
Stateside (2004)
Loggerheads (2005)
Pigs, The (2005)
Find Love (2006)
Forgiven (2006)
Idlewild (2006)
Just Like the Son (2006)
Dead Heist (2007)
Hounddog (2007)
List, The (2007)
Remember the Daze (2007)
27 Club, The (2008)
El Camino (2008)
Nights in Rodanthe (2008)
Secret Life of Bees (2008)
Strawberry Wine (2008)
Bleeding, The (2009)
Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever (2009)
Marc Pease Experience, The (2009)
Port City (2009)
Redefining Love (2009)
Louis (2010)
Good Old-Fashioned Orgy, A (2011)
Bloodworth (2011)
To.get.her (2011)
American Warships (2012)
Arthur Newman (2012)
Jailhouse (2012)
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012)
Piranha 3DD (2012)
Conjuring, The (2013)
Don’t Know Yet (2013)
Heart of the Country (2013)
Hick (2013)
Iron Man 3 (2013)
Newton’s Grace (2013)
Safe Haven (2013)
Stuck in Love (2013)
We’re the Millers (2013)
Jessabelle (2014)
Remaining, The (2014)
River Guard (2014)
Short History of Decay, A (2014)
Tammy (2014)
The Devil’s Hand (2014)
Adrenaline (2015)
Choice, The (2015)
Longest Ride, The (2015)
Sin Seer, The (2015)
Squeeze, The (2015)
Blue Mountain State: The Rise of Thadland (2016)
Bolden! (no release date)
Max Steel (no release date)
Think we missed a movie? Let us know in the comments.
Want to know more? Visit WilmonFilm.com.
Date posted: March 30, 2016
Mary & Martha – 2013 (HBO Movie) (Southport) (Hilary Swank)
These are just commercially made movies for the big screen. We’ll add a list of TV projects soon!
I would say “Evil Dead 2″ being filmed in Wilmington is a stretch. Wadesboro is closer to Charlotte (52 miles via US-74) than to Wilmington (176 miles via US-74. Since at the time of filming I-40 wasn’t completed). I know it’s distributed by the De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, but still seems like a stretch to be filmed in Wilmington.
Since Evil Dead 2 was mentioned, The Color Purple was also filmed in Wadesboro, on the same property as Evil Dead 2.