Steven Spielberg’s New UFO Film Brings Hollywood to the Jersey Shore
Parts of the Jersey Shore will serve as the set for a new Steven Spielberg UFO movie. Filming starts this week in Cape May County, and towns like Tuckahoe and Woodbine are getting a boost from the Hollywood business during a traditionally slow time of year.
“Not too much exciting happens in Tuckahoe, so this is very exciting,” one onlooker reported to NBC10 News Philadelphia as she stood with a friend, watching the activity.
According to a Downbeach report, Spielberg’s UFO-themed film, reportedly called “The Dish,” will star Emily Blunt of “Oppenheimer” fame. Spielberg is expected to be in Woodbine to direct filming during the week of March 10-14. Woodbine Mayor William Pikolycky said that several scenes for the film will be shot along the railroad tracks from Woodbine to Buena Vista Township and include trains operated by Cape May Seashore Lines.
The influx of film crew members also benefits hotels and restaurants in the area. Some, such as Impala Suites in Ocean City, are experiencing abnormally high late-winter occupancy rates, especially on weekdays.
In Woodbine — whose water tower slogan announces it’s the “Gateway to the Jersey Cape” — Spielberg’s production crew members have been stopping by the Dionysus Restaurant to pick up trays of breakfast bagels, muffins, and pastries.
“It’s pretty cool. It’s exciting. It’s nice to see new faces,” said Dionysus manager Jacki LaDouceur in an interview with Downbeach. LaDouceur’s father, Angelo Kossyvakis, has owned the Woodbine restaurant for 38 years.
Speaking with NBC10 News Philadelphia, Ludlam Island Brewery owner said, “It’s nice to feel a full bar this time of year when it’s our offseason down here at the Jersey Shore.”
Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce executive director Michele Gillian explained that the boost in people in the area “exposes Ocean City to a different environment for these people that come in and do filming.” she said.
