Thursday, April 24, 2025

Netflix’s ‘The Waterfront,’ filmed locally, gets release date

Jake Weary and Melissa Benoist from “The Waterfront,” which filmed in Wilmington last year. (Netflix/Dana Hawley)

WILMINGTON — After setting up across southeastern North Carolina last summer to shoot a new series for Netflix, Kevin Williamson’s “The Waterfront” now has a release date.

READ MORE: ‘The Waterfront’ announces cast, background actors needed ahead of local film dates

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

Come June 19, all eight episodes of the Universal Television series will stream. The storyline is set along the North Carolina coast, inspired by true events, according to Williamson, who has penned the script.

Well-known for works like “The Vampire Diaries,” “Dawson’s Creek,” “Scream” and “I Know What You Did Last Summer” — the latter three also filmed in Wilmington — Williamson’s tale follows Harlan and Mae Buckley and their two children. The Buckleys have a fishing empire in the town, run by Harlan for years. But after a heart attack, Harlan turns it over to Mae, who takes the reins to keep the business afloat with her son, but runs into complications along the way.

According to Netflix, Williams has said the show follows the “lesser evil” tenant, as the family embarks on treacherous situations.

“It’s just about a bunch of people who make mistakes. They do some bad things and then they get in deeper and deeper and deeper,” he said, according to reporting on Tudum, run by Netflix and named after its iconic app-opening sound. “Sometimes they keep making worse mistakes and sometimes they find their way out and do the good thing.” 

The show stars Holt McCallany (“Fight Club,” “Mindhunter”), Maria Bello (“Beef”), Jake Weary, Melissa Benoist (“Supergirl”), Rafael L. Silva, Humberly González, Danielle Campbell and Brady Hepner. Topher Grace, Dave Annable, Michael Gaston, Gerardo Celasco and Zach Roerig also guest star.

Cameras began rolling in Wilmington on Aug. 29, at locations including Suites on Market, Cotton Exchange, Cape Fear Club, 100 block of North Front St., and Little Drum Landing on Ann Street. Scenes also were filmed in Southport, with Fishy Fish Cafe transformed into a restaurant for the movie.

“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.” 

A second season for “The Waterfront” has yet to be announced.

(Netflix/Dana Hawley)

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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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