Friday, November 8, 2024

Creator behind ‘Scream,’ ‘Dawson’s Creek’ back to filming new series in Wilmington

Kevin Williamson’s latest project “The Waterfront” will film in Wilmington, listed now in preproduction. (Port City Daily/Shea Carver)

WILMINGTON — Wilmington has become Woodsboro in “Scream” and Capeside in “Dawson’s Creek,” but what’s their connection besides the Port City?

READ MORE: In production locally, ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ season 3 gets release date

Kevin Williamson.

The name is deeply rooted in Wilmington’s film industry, as Williamson is predominantly known as the producer of both “Dawson’s Creek” and “Scream.” He’s also a writer who penned the famed horror script, as well as other locally made films like “I Know What You Did Last Summer.”

“The Waterfront” is listed on the Wilmington Film Commission website in pre-production. The new series by Williamson will stream on Netflix and is produced by Universal Television and Outerbanks Entertainement. Its homebase will be on 23rd Street at Cinespace Studio, formerly EUE/Screen Gems — where many of Williamson’s ideas found their way onto the big screen.

The show’s storyline takes place in North Carolina and centers on the Buckley family, whose legacy in the fishing industry is in peril. It’s inspired by true events, according to Williamson who posted on his socials on May 15 announcing the new series. The drama will show the extent to which the family will go to “keep themselves afloat,” he wrote, calling it a deeply personal story. The writer is originally from New Bern, North Carolina, so his knowledge of the southeastern coastal region is vast.

No one has been announced yet to star in the show.

“The Waterfront” is one of a four-series package Williamson agreed to in a deal with Universal. It also includes a remake of “Rear Window” (Alfred Hitchcock), “The It Girl,” based on the number-one New York Times bestselling author Ruth Ware’s book, and “The Game.” 

In addition, Williamson announced in March he is set to direct the seventh installment of the “Scream” franchise — for which he wrote. The fifth series filmed in Wilmington in 2020. No word whether number seven will also film in the Port City, but Neve Campbell is slated to return as the title role of Sidney Prescott. 

The film industry veteran also produced “The Exorcism,” starring Russell Crow, which has its premiere at Thalian Hall this month.

CATCH UP: Wilmington-filmed ‘The Exorcism’ has advance premiere at Thalian Hall

“The Waterfront” is the fourth project announced for the Port City this year, which has cameras rolling currently for “The Summer I Turned Pretty” and “Merv.” Jonas Pate of “Outer Banks” fame is also scheduled to film “The Runarounds” this summer.

ALSO: ‘Outer Banks’ creator talks about new Amazon show to film in Wilmington


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Shea Carver
Shea Carver
Shea Carver is the editor in chief at Port City Daily. A UNCW alumna, Shea worked in the print media business in Wilmington for 22 years before joining the PCD team in October 2020. She specializes in arts coverage — music, film, literature, theatre — the dining scene, and can often be tapped on where to go, what to do and who to see in Wilmington. When she isn’t hanging with her pup, Shadow Wolf, tending the garden or spinning vinyl, she’s attending concerts and live theater.

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