Visiting movie sites across North Carolina

06 Apr Visiting movie sites across North Carolina

Next up on our movie road trip adventure is North Carolina. Just like South Carolina, the state has been the background for many great films. We’ve rounded up some of the biggest that have been filmed at locations all across the state. Close to home, Charlotte has seen its fair amount of screen time. The first one on the list features many locations around the Queen City that you can easily visit.

Shallow Hal-Jack Black and Gwyneth Paltrow
-St. Peter’s Episcopal Church: in front of the Church is where Hal ask Katrina out
-Hotel Concord: the exterior of Hal’s apartment
-Pikes: where Hal and Rosemary share a milkshake
-Bank of America Corporate: served as JPS Funds where Hal worked with Rosemary’s father
-Freedom Park: where Hal introduced Rosemary to his friend
-The Capital Grille: where Rosemary saw Hal at dinner with his neighbor Jill

Hunger Games-Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth
-DuPont State Recreational Forest: Served as the Arena the games were played in.
-Triple Falls: Katniss finds a wounded Peeta camouflaged among the rocks.
-Bridal Veil Falls: Where Katniss cools down after running from the firestorm.
-North Fork Reservoir: Cornucopia and some Arena scenes. This is closed to the public but you can see the area from Craggy Pinnacle.
-Henry River Mill Village: User for scenes of District 12. Signs for Mellark’s bakery are still here. It is private property, but you can see it from the road
-Charlotte:
-Knight Theater: Served as Capitol backdrop and the Tribute interview scenes were shot inside.
-Charlotte Convention Center: underground loading dock was where Katniss became “the girl on fire.”
-Pisgah National Forest: Forest surrounding District 12 where Gail and Katniss hunt. Also used for the rocky creek area surrounding Katniss and Peeta’s shelter

Iron Man 3-Robert Downey Jr , Gwyneth Paltrow , Don Cheadle
Wilmington:
-Cape Fear Club: scene of the 1999 New Year’s Party (movie says they are in Bern, Switzerland).
-Port of Wilmington: Dockside battle scene.
Raleigh:
-Epic Games office: The HQ of ‘Stark Industries’.
Rose Hill:
-In the movie Stark ask to be taken to Rose Hill TN but it is filmed in Rose Hill NC.
-‘The Rocky Top’ restaurant and ‘Walker’s Bar’.
-Shrine surrounding the crater where the soldier was blown up.
Kenansville:
-The ‘Miss Chattanooga Christmas Pageant’: where Stark takes the TV broadcast van
Oak Island:
-The skies above the Island are where Stark gathered together the airplane passengers as they fell from the plane.

Dirty Dancing: Patrick Swayze (Johnny) and Jennifer Grey (Baby)
Lake Lure:
-Firefly Cove: (used to be Chimney Rock Camp for Boys) scenes with Baby carrying the watermelon, all the interior dance scenes, practicing on the stairs. This area is now a private community but can be viewed from various boat tours. Sadly, you won’t be able to recreate the dance up the stairs.
-The lake is the place of the famous ‘lift’ scene. The scene was actually filmed in October and the outside temp was only 40 degrees!
-Bald Mountain Golf course: 16th hole is where Baby asked her dad for money
-The Esmeralda Inn: The wood floors in the lobby are the original floors from the Boy Scout camp gymnasium where the interior dance scenes were filmed.

Safe Haven: Julianne Hough and Josh Duhamel
Southport:
-Fishy Fishy Café served as the set for the Safe Haven General Store
-Old American Fish Co. was transformed into Ivan’s Fish Shack, the restaurant where Katie worked.
-Several stores fronts also are shown in the film.
Fort Fisher State Recreation Area: The location for the kiss between Katie and Alex.

Now that you have the locations, you just need to get in your car and go! Along the way stop and try to recreate some of your favorite scenes. We hope you have the time of your life!