Outer Banks residents will be among the first to see the new Richard Gere and Diane Lane movie, “Nights in Rodanthe”, with a special pre-screening 2 days after the premier in New York City, and 2 days before the movie is scheduled to hit theaters nationwide and in Canada.
Based on the book by Nicholas Sparks, Nights in Rodanthe was filmed partly in Rodanthe at “Serendipity,” the most northern oceanfront home on Hatteras Island, and the location of the fictional inn that is the main setting of the book and movie. Locals and frequent visitors who have seen the early previews have been pleasantly surprised to see locales they know well, like the long stretch of NC Highway 12 in between the Bonner Bridge and Rodanthe, and glimpses of the Rodanthe Pier.
The cast and crew of Nights in Rodanthe filmed scenes on the Outer Banks in May of 2007, casting local residents as extras and enlisting the help of local police officers as security during the filming. Gere and Lane shot scenes in front of the home, along the beaches, and even at the Hatteras Village ferry terminal.
In a July interview, Sparks said the movie shows off North Carolina’s coast. “There are these scenes in Rodanthe, and you just get the wind-swept, austere beauty of the Outer Banks,” he said. “It’s co-mingled with a story that I’m proud to have written and that translated well to film.”
The Visitor’s Bureau website has a “Nights in Rodanthe” mini-site that features the villages on Hatteras Island. It includes a downloadable self-guided tour of the Outer Banks locations shot during the movie.
Carolyn McCormick, Managing Director of the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau says that of the 210 premier tickets, the majority will go to the local extras, crew, and police officers who helped during the May 2007 filming. If there are tickets leftover, they will go to local officials. “The list will concentrate, No. 1, on all of the people who made it happen,” says McCormack.