Parts of the Garden State are serving as the set for a new Steven Spielberg UFO movie and it’s bringing a winter boost to the Jersey Shore.
The production is set to begin shooting in Cape May County next week, but many local businesses have been benefitting from it already during a typically slow time of year.
In tiny Tuckahoe, New Jersey, even rehearsals for a big-time movie shoot draw an audience – even if Spielberg himself wasn't there.
“Not too much exciting happens in Tuckahoe so this is very exciting,” one onlooker said as she stood with a friend hoping to get a glimpse of Spielberg.
Film crews were getting set around the town’s small train station before cameras start rolling next week. The UFO flick will shoot scenes in both Tuckahoe and nearby Woodbine.
The cast and crew have been filming in North Jersey – stars Emily Blunt and Wyatt Russell and the iconic Hollywood filmmaker were recently spotted in Montville, according to NJ.com – for the past couple weeks, but quite a few production staffers started working here in Cape May County.
“In January it’s nice to have anyone come in and see us,” Ludlam Island Brewery owner Billy Topley said. “It's nice to feel a full bar this time of year, when it's our off season down here at the Jersey Shore.”
Ludlam Island Brewery is among several area restaurants that began serving crew members a couple of months back.
Those crew members have also been staying in area hotels.
“It's never been full this time of year,” Shorebreak Resorts’ Chris Glancey said.
At Impala Suites in Ocean City, the film project has led to unheard-of occupancy rates for the dead of winter, especially on weekdays.
“You're talking about Tuesdays and Wednesdays in January and February when there's nobody around,” Glancey said. “It's quite an impact, and it's great.”
Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce executive director Michele Gillian noted how the extra people in the area are helping businesses.
“It really does give that extra boost, and it exposes Ocean City to a different environment for these people that come in and do filming,” she said.
No word yet on when the filming will wrap or what the UFO film might be called.
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