There's a yellow raincoat in a glass case at 1202 Market Street. The Fisherman wore it in I Know What You Did Last Summer, the 1997 horror film shot down the river in Southport. Nearby are a costume James Van Der Beek wore in the Dawson's Creek pilot and Scream masks signed by Skeet Ulrich and Mikey Madison. The room serves popcorn and pretzels, and one of the beers is called I Know Wheat You Did Last Summer.
That's the Hollywood East Brewseum, which opened in September. It's one of several places this fall where Wilmington's film history has moved off the soundstages and into rooms anyone can walk into. The timing is odd. The people who make that history spent much of the same stretch worried that the cameras might stop.
A taproom that started with Dawson's Creek
Tyler Christensen and Patrick McCarthy held a soft opening on Sept. 18 in the former Rose Ice & Coal building. As WilmingtonBiz reported, they timed it to a One Tree Hill reunion event. The StarNews traced the idea back to Dawson's Creek, the show that first inspired McCarthy.
Both owners work in film, and Christensen has worked as a TV writer and producer. Some of the memorabilia came from friends who worked on productions shot in the area. Other pieces the owners already had or bought at auction, and they plan to rotate the displays.
The building holds up its end too. The lounge was designed to feel like a vintage Art Deco movie theater, with 1920s seats from a theater in Los Angeles and door handles made from an old film reel. The taproom keeps the old warehouse's barrel ceiling, and the lounge keeps sections of the original brick walls. The menu is what the owners call an elevated concession stand: hot honey cheese pretzel bites, pickle bombs, cheese curds, sweet potato waffle fries and donut holes. Local breweries supply beers relabeled with titles like One Tree Pils, Under the Foam and IPA Records, and Hi-Wire Brewing makes a Blueberry Velvet just for the Brewseum.
Christensen told WilmingtonBiz why he built it:
"There's so much incredible, iconic TV and movies shot in the area that it's always been a shame because there hasn't been a spot that you can go and go, 'Oh yeah! … I didn't know that shot here.'"
The venue's own site lists these hours: Sunday noon to 8 p.m., Monday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., closed Tuesday and Wednesday, and Thursday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. An early October News & Observer story listed earlier closing times for Thursday through Saturday, so call ahead before a late visit. The owners plan screenings, trivia and a grand opening, but they haven't announced dates yet.
The same weeks, the industry was bracing
Christensen also told WilmingtonBiz he hoped the Brewseum would be a gathering place for film professionals during a local slowdown. A month later, that slowdown was on stage at Cinespace Studios.
On Oct. 6, WilmingtonBiz reported that Sen. Michael Lee had announced plans for $31 million in new film incentive money for fiscal year 2026-2027. Lawmakers want it prioritized for projects in New Hanover and surrounding counties. The money still needs legislative approval. Lee said action would probably come in the middle of November, when the General Assembly is back in session.
Here's why it mattered. The state film grant program has $31 million a year in guaranteed recurring funding. Lee said the film office had awarded $100 million over the previous 24 months, and that $91 million of it was money the office didn't have. The N.C. Department of Commerce disputed that account and said it ran the program according to explicit instructions from legislative staff. Darla McGlamery, business manager of IATSE Local 491, described the mood among crews:
"We believed we were dead in the water, but these gentlemen did not stop."
The year wasn't all bad news. In June, WilmingtonBiz reported that the ABC series R.J. Decker was coming back to Wilmington for a second season. It also reported that Cape Fear Community College's film program was moving to Cinespace and growing from about 2,500 to 7,200 square feet.
The industry spent the fall waiting on Raleigh. Meanwhile, the public side of Wilmington film kept adding dates.
Thalian Hall turns late October into a horror run
Demand showed up early. Last Saturday, Oct. 17, Myers House NC held an On Set Cinema screening of Trick or Treat, the 1986 film, in UNCW's Hanover Hall Gym. The movie used the campus as its high school, and the gym was one of its filming locations. The night screening sold out, so the organizers added an afternoon show with general admission at $35 plus fees.
Thalian Hall takes it from there. Its October and November film calendar runs mostly to horror:
- Oct. 23 and 24: The Rocky Horror Picture Show with a live shadowcast by Pineapple-Shaped Lamps. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., the pre-show starts at 7 p.m., and the curtain goes up at 7:30 p.m.
- Oct. 27 to 29: The Evil Dead.
- Oct. 29: Night of the Living Dead.
- Oct. 30: The Addams Family, the 1991 film.
- Nov. 13: A Friday the 13th double feature.
If you'd like your film with a bar and a smaller room, Jengo's Playhouse at 815 Princess St. shows movies year-round in a 65-seat cinema. It's also one of the main Cucalorus venues, which is the next thing on the calendar.
Cucalorus brings a Wilmington-made headliner home
The 32nd Cucalorus Film Festival runs Nov. 19 to 22 in downtown Wilmington. The festival lists more than 90 films, and its hub is the Coastline Center at Aloft. The main venues are Coastline Center, Jengo's Playhouse, Thalian Hall and The Pointe 14. Some programming also happens at Hi-Wire Brewing and The Rift.
The headliner fits this fall well. WWAY reported that Pretty Ugly, a thriller set and filmed in Wilmington, will screen Nov. 21 at Thalian Hall. Its cast includes Nicola Peltz Beckham, Jazzy De Lisser and Mary Stuart Masterson. That's a movie made here, shown at Thalian Hall, in the same month lawmakers are expected to decide how much state money goes to the next one.
WWAY also listed Henry's Ebb, Capsized, Clovers, A City in the Forest and Summer 2000: The X-Cetra Story among the early picks. One of the festival's lighter events is on Nov. 22 at Coastline Center, where Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles screens with live music by Shaolin Jazz.
Ticket options on the festival's Eventive page:
- Pegasorus Pass: all-access, listed at $300 before a price increase on Oct. 21
- Gold Pass: $750
- Industry Pass: $90
- Ticket bundles: four tickets for $50 or eight for $100. Bundles don't cover Thalian Hall screenings, so you'd need a separate ticket for Pretty Ugly.
What mid-November holds
Two things land in the same week. Cucalorus fills downtown from Nov. 19 to 22. Lawmakers expect to take up the $31 million around the General Assembly's return in mid-November. The Brewseum's owners have said they plan to host screenings and trivia and to rotate the memorabilia on display. Between now and then, Thalian Hall has a horror screening almost every few nights through Oct. 30. A pretzel and a One Tree Pils on Market Street is an easy way to start one of those evenings.
I came to real estate from photography, and I'm always the one in the car pointing out where a scene was shot. If you have a favorite Wilmington filming spot I should know about, or you're curious how a house that's been on screen photographs today, I'd love to hear from you. Kelly Peedin is always up for a good movie-location story. Let's Connect.
