'Mysterious Island' – North Carolina's New Hollywood Hit
Filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina, the action-packed Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, has already made more than $270 million world-wide since its initial release in February, while Hollywood has been buzzing in recent weeks about a number of other big name productions coming to the Tarheel State in the wake of another potential blockbuster that is also about to hit theaters.
The Mysterious Island (rated PG) is a family-friendly adventure sequel to 2008’s Journey to the Center of the Earth.
It stars Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson (The Scorpion King, Fast Five), Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical, Sucker Punch), and Josh Hutcherson, who will coincidentally next be seen in The Hunger Games, which was also filmed at numerous locations in North Carolina
Vanessa Hudgens and Josh Hutcherson star in Journey 2, filmed in N.C.
You can watch an official trailer for Journey 2 using the player below!
North Carolina has been building steam in recent years as an affordable alternative to New York and L.A. for many Hollywood productions.
Deliverance (1972), The Color Purple (1985), Dirty Dancing (1987), The Crow (1994), and the upcoming Piranha 3DD are just a few of the major studio releases that were filmed in the state, but The Hunger Games is different in that it is the first in a planned trilogy and it is based on a hugely successful franchise with extremely loyal fans.
Based on the best-selling novel, the much anticipated screen adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games (rated PG13) opens on March 23rd, and while some in Hollywood are betting on it to be the next Twilight-sized phenomenon, many in North Carolina are celebrating the state’s part (as the fictional nation of ‘Panem’) in what is expected be a major blockbuster.
DuPont State Recreational Forest in Brevard served as the arena in The Hunger Games
Click here to check out our special ‘tribute’ to The Hunger Games!
Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Lenny Kravitz in The Hunger Games
Then there’s Iron Man 3, which just started production in Wilmington under the widely known code name of ‘Caged Heat’.
Set to hit theaters on May 3, 2013, it is the first film from Marvel Studios since the comic book giant was purchased by Disney – a merging of two entertainment industry super powers with eyes to the east, suggesting that even bigger blockbusters will continue the journey to North Corolina.
Journey 2 starts March 9th at Manteo’s historic Pioneer Theatre for a one-week run.
Showtime at The Pioneer is 8pm nightly.
Vanessa Hudgens filmed Journey 2 in N.C. (photo: Details)
