Popcorn’s Not Just for the Comment Section
When your blue light glasses fail you and you’re ready to put down the small screen in favor of a slightly bigger screen, hit play on one of these movies that were made right here in North Carolina. Petey Pablo would be proud.
- Talladega Nights: You’re not a fan of fictional NASCAR driver Ricky Bobby if you don’t chew Big Red. Most of the racing sequences were filmed at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Shake N’ Bake, baby.
- Dirty Dancing: Nothing says 80s movie classic like Patrick Swayze, curly bangs, and a tank top tucked into jeans. Filmed at Lake Lure, there’s even a Dirty Dancing Festival that happens every year.
- Days of Thunder: This 1990 film might star a young hotshot (baby Tom Cruise), but the real star is the hair on neurosurgeon Nicole Kidman. Guess where bitter racing rivals become friends? Yes, the Charlotte Motor Speedway.
- Bull Durham: Apparently romance is like baseball, so we’ll be pitching some lines from this movie as we play the field and try to get to some bases. Filming took place in Asheville and at Durham Athletic Park, as well as Burlington, Greensboro, Wilson, Raleigh and Duke University.
- Forrest Gump: Run, Forrest, run to Asheville if you want to see one of the locations Forrest … runs. Nearby Grandfather Mountain has a part dubbed, “Forrest Gump Curve” if you want to partake, whether people follow you or not. Beard not required.
- The Hunger Games: Remember when this was all the rage? District Twelve was filmed in abandoned towns around NC, mostly in the mountains.
What other film set in NC is on your list? Reply and let us know.
