{"id":66318,"date":"2026-05-21T16:22:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T20:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=66318"},"modified":"2026-05-21T16:22:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T20:22:23","slug":"movies-filmed-in-and-around-lakeland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/05\/21\/movies-filmed-in-and-around-lakeland\/","title":{"rendered":"Movies filmed in and around Lakeland"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lakeland and the surrounding towns in Polk County have served as the backdrop for several major Hollywood features, cult classics, and independent films over the decades.<sup><\/sup> The area&#8217;s distinct architecture\u2014ranging from mid-century strip malls to historic brick complexes\u2014makes it a versatile destination for location scouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The most notable productions filmed right in the area include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Major Hollywood Releases<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Edward Scissorhands (1990):<\/strong> Tim Burton\u2019s iconic fantasy film features Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder. While the neighborhood of pastel houses was filmed in nearby Land O&#8217; Lakes, the bustling shopping center scenes were shot right at Lakeland&#8217;s own <strong>Southgate Shopping Center<\/strong>. The distinctive, massive retro archway is instantly recognizable in several scenes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The One and Only Ivan (2020):<\/strong> Disney utilized Lakeland for location shooting on this live-action\/CGI hybrid starring Bryan Cranston. Production returned to the retro aesthetic of the <strong>Southgate Shopping Center<\/strong> and filmed scenes at the historic <strong>Silver Moon Drive-In<\/strong> on New Tampa Highway.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Waterboy (1998):<\/strong> Adam Sandler&#8217;s smash-hit comedy used multiple spots across Central Florida. The famous classroom scene where Sandler&#8217;s character argues about the <em>&#8220;medulla oblongata&#8221;<\/em> was filmed inside Edge Hall on the <strong>Florida Southern College<\/strong> campus, utilizing local students as background extras.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mr. Baseball (1992):<\/strong> This sports comedy starring Tom Selleck as an aging veteran traded to a Japanese team shot its spring training sequences on location at <strong>Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium<\/strong>, the longtime spring training home of the Detroit Tigers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img data-dominant-color=\"798386\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #798386;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"387\" height=\"258\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 387px) 100vw, 387px\" src=\"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/images-7.webp\" alt=\"Edward Scissorhands | Film Locations\" class=\"wp-image-66320 not-transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/images-7.webp 387w, https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/images-7-300x200.webp 300w\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Southgate Shopping Center. Source: Movie Locations \/ Edward Scissorhands | Film Locations<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img data-dominant-color=\"5f7164\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #5f7164;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"421\" height=\"237\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 421px) 100vw, 421px\" src=\"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/images-e112acf4-1a29-400a-96e0-d28c04f57990.webp\" alt=\"Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium | Flying Tigers\" class=\"wp-image-66321 not-transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/images-e112acf4-1a29-400a-96e0-d28c04f57990.webp 421w, https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/images-e112acf4-1a29-400a-96e0-d28c04f57990-300x169.webp 300w\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium. Source: The Official Site of Minor League Baseball \/ Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium | Flying Tigers<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Filmed Just Around Polk County<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you widen the lens to the immediate surrounding communities in Polk County, a few other massive titles come to light:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>My Girl (1991):<\/strong> The beloved, tear-jerking coming-of-age movie starring Macaulay Culkin, Anna Chlumsky, Dan Aykroyd, and Jamie Lee Curtis was filmed extensively in nearby <strong>Bartow<\/strong>. The beautiful, historic multi-story home used as the Sultenfuss funeral home still stands on Identity Place.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>China Moon (1994):<\/strong> This neo-noir crime thriller starring Ed Harris and Benicio del Toro captures the moody atmosphere of the region, splitting its primary on-location filming between <strong>Lakeland<\/strong> and <strong>Bartow<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Easy to Love (1953) &amp; Grace Is Gone (2007):<\/strong> Both of these features utilized the lush botanical backdrops of the historic <strong>Cypress Gardens<\/strong> in Winter Haven (now the site of Legoland Florida) before the original park closed its doors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fun Trivia &amp; Pop Culture Highlights<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Shakma (1990):<\/strong> For fans of campy horror, this cult movie about a loose, aggressive baboon in a medical facility used downtown Lakeland&#8217;s historic <strong>Marble Arcade<\/strong> building for its opening establishing sequences.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Prince&#8217;s &#8220;Little Red Corvette&#8221; (1983):<\/strong> While not a feature film, one of music history&#8217;s most iconic music videos was actually recorded right here. Prince filmed the video on a stage constructed inside the former <strong>Lakeland Civic Center<\/strong> (now the RP Funding Center) during a break on his 1999 tour.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lakeland and the surrounding towns in Polk County have served as the backdrop for several major Hollywood features, cult classics, and independent films over the decades. The area&#8217;s distinct architecture\u2014ranging&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"9","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDVcL2Rvd25sb2FkLTEtOC53ZWJwP2ZpdD0zNDQlMkMxNDcmc3NsPTEiLCJ0eHQiOiJNb3ZpZXMgZmlsbWVkIGluIGFuZCBhcm91bmQgTGFrZWxhbmQiLCJ0ZW1wbGF0ZSI6ImRvaXMiLCJmb250IjoiIiwiYmxvZ19pZCI6MTYzMDQwNjYxfQ.gJweUffoZIpwRM8aqSGKBG28tL6DaWLxOs1zss_Bd-EMQ"},"version":2,"media_source":"sig","attached_media":[{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/jetpack.com\/redirect\/?source=sigenerate&query=t%3DeyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvbGFrZWxhbmRnYXpldHRlLmluZm9cL25ld3NcL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcL3VwbG9hZHNcLzIwMjZcLzA1XC9kb3dubG9hZC0xLTgud2VicCIsInR4dCI6Ik1vdmllcyBmaWxtZWQgaW4gYW5kIGFyb3VuZCBMYWtlbGFuZCIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiZG9pcyIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNjMwNDA2NjF9.Pv45D9WrPRVGAFTgdtwYrYjDLmbCCwvLlhWb-NHjEUgMQ","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[14669],"class_list":["post-66318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-movies-filmed-in-and-around-lakeland"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66318"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66322,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66318\/revisions\/66322"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}