Hollywood Discovers Savannah
Savannah became very popular with filmmakers in the last quarter century of the 1900s as a great location to make movies. While this isn't a definitive list of all of the movies filmed in Savannah, it does reflect the biggest and best known productions that have showcased our historic city to audiences worldwide.
Burt Reynolds
Burt Reynolds spent part of 1973 around Savannah filming The Longest Yard which features downtown Savannah in the chase that ran through Forsyth Park to River Street. In the movie, Reynolds plays a former NFL football star who recruits fellow prisoners to take on a rival team comprised of their prison guards.
Sarah Douglas
This movie is a sequel to 1982's Swamp Thing. While filming on location in a swamp on Oatland Island just east of the City of Savannah, riflemen were on hand in case alligators approached any of the actors or crew. Heather Locklear won the Razzie Award for Worst Actress for her performance in the film.
Cary Elwes
Few movies filmed in Savannah bring so much talent to town than Glory. With box office sales of $27 million, this wasn't a blockbuster in theaters but was a very well received American historical war drama being set during the Civil War. The scenes for the party were shot at The Mercer House, which also featured prominently in another movie filmed in Savannah (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil).
Sally Field
Forrest Gump became the top grossing movie in the United States in 1994. The movie was filmed in multiple locations mostly in the three states of Georgia, North Carolina & South Carolina. The scenes filmed in the Savannah, Georgia area include the bus stop scene (filmed in Chippewa Square). Local residents rank this as their favorite movie filmed in Savannah.
Lady Chablis
Kevin Spacey starred as Jim Williams in the movie version of John Berendt's best selling novel (released in 1994). This became the 20th movie Clint Eastwood directed but one of the few in which he didn't also appear as an actor. Filming at the Mercer House posed challenges and no insurance company would underwrite the project. As a result, all items in the movie are replicas.
John Travolta
In 1992, Nelson DeMille published his novel, The General's Daughter. As with many popular books, Hollywood soon came calling to try and translate the book's popularity into a successful motion picture. For the film adaptation of this mystery thriller, John Travolta stars as Chief Warrant Officer Paul Brenner after Michael Douglas passed on the project.
Greg Kinnear
Miley Cyrus starred in The Last Song, which was originally supposed to be filmed in North Carolina. However, Georgia's aggressive rebates to filmmakers eventually won the day and the story was slightly changed so that it took place on Tybee Island. It's the first movie filmed on Tybee that is also supposed to be occurring on the barrier island.
While this movie was mostly filmed in Atlanta, there are 'Spring Break' scenes filmed at Tybee Island. Robert De Niro stars as the Dirty Grandpa in a movie some critics said was the worst they had ever seen. Despite negative reviews, it was wildly successful financially.
Over $120 million ($15M budget)
Channing Tatum
Lots of laughs and lots of shirtless men in this sequel to 2012's Magic Mike starring Channing Tatum. In the movie, the guys end up stopping in Savannah at a strip club. It was a massive success at the box office, bringing in over $120 million on a $15 million budget, making it one of the most successful movies filmed in Savannah.
Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron starred in the movie remake of the popular 90s TV show 'Baywatch.' A big difference between the movie and the television show was the setting; the TV show was set in Malibu while the movie was set in Broward County, Florida. Filming took place in the Miami area, Savannah and Tybee Island.
Work on this film's screenplay began in 1997 and it took a long time to come to theatres. In the more than two decades it took for this project to be completed, several actors (including Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, and Sean Connery) were slated for the starring role but then dropped out for one reason or another. When everything finally came together, Will Smith was the lead in the action thriller that deals with cloning. The movie features beautiful shots of the marshes of south Georgia.
Disney Live-Action
The opening of 2019's Lady and the Tramp shows the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, making the opening seconds of this film an obvious tip off to all who love Savannah that parts of the movie were filmed here. Filming locations around town include Johnson Square, Wright Square and the Georgia Railroad Museum. This version of Lady & the Tramp is a remake of Disney's 1955 classic film.