TRENTON, N.J. – From the blood-soaked cabins of Camp Crystal Lake to the convenience store where Kevin Smith made “Clerks,” some of New Jersey’s most recognizable movie and television locations are about to become part of an official statewide tourism attraction.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed A4883/S4268 into law Wednesday, requiring the Division of Travel and Tourism to establish the New Jersey Film Trail. The legislation had been moving through Trenton since June and was among a package of bills signed Sept. 9.
For movie fans, the possibilities are extensive. New Jersey has been used for “Friday the 13th,” “Joker,” “A Beautiful Mind,” “War of the Worlds,” “Annie,” “Clerks,” “Oppenheimer,” “The Sopranos” and scores of other productions — including films dating to the earliest years of American cinema.
Shore News Network reported on the Film Trail proposal when it advanced through the Legislature in June. The version that ultimately became law made one significant change: lawmakers removed the requirement to install physical filming markers.
The trail itself survived.
What the New Jersey Film Trail Will Look Like
The Division of Travel and Tourism will work with the Motion Picture and Television Development Commission to determine which locations make the cut.
There will also be a way for fans to nominate them.
The law directs the state to establish an electronic submission system allowing members of the public and private organizations to recommend locations. Before a site can be added, the film commission must confirm that filming actually occurred there.
Private residences are specifically excluded.
That restriction means one of New Jersey’s best-known movie houses — the Toms River home used for the 1979 “Amityville Horror” — would not qualify under the law. Shore News Network previously reported on the famous Toms River filming location, which stood in for the actual Amityville, New York, house.
There are plenty of other candidates.
Once established, the Film Trail website is supposed to provide a searchable list and interactive map showing each location. Visitors will be able to find driving directions from multiple directions, public transportation information when applicable, photographs and descriptions of what was filmed there.
If a location offers tours, those details will be included too.
The state also wants visitors to spend more than a few minutes snapping pictures. Travel and Tourism must develop vacation itineraries connecting filming sites with nearby restaurants, hotels, attractions and entertainment.
10 New Jersey Movie Locations That Could Make the Trail
No final list of Film Trail sites has been announced, and inclusion will ultimately be decided by the state. But New Jersey isn’t short on candidates.
Shore News Network looked at several of the state’s most iconic filming locations in 2023. Based on documented filming history — and excluding private residences as required by the new law — these 10 locations stand out:
Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco, Hardwick Township — “Friday the 13th”
The original 1980 “Friday the 13th” turned this Warren County Boy Scout camp into Camp Crystal Lake.
Cabins, woods and the lake were used extensively during production, with additional scenes filmed around Blairstown and Hope. The camp remains active and isn’t ordinarily a walk-in tourist attraction, although special Crystal Lake tours have periodically allowed horror fans onto the property.
Few potential Film Trail stops have a stronger connection between a real New Jersey location and a fictional place known around the world.
Quick Stop Groceries, Leonardo — “Clerks”
For Kevin Smith fans, this one is almost mandatory.
The Quick Stop at 58 Leonard Avenue in the Leonardo section of Middletown became the center of Smith’s 1994 black-and-white indie comedy “Clerks.” Smith worked at the store and filmed there after business hours, building much of the movie around the location.
Unlike plenty of old movie sets, the Quick Stop is still there.
Great Hall at Monmouth University, West Long Branch — “Annie”
The Great Hall at Monmouth University is recognizable to generations of “Annie” fans as Daddy Warbucks’ mansion.
The 1929 mansion was used for exterior and interior scenes in the 1982 musical starring Aileen Quinn, Albert Finney and Carol Burnett. The National Historic Landmark remains one of the most visually impressive movie locations in New Jersey.
It also fits almost perfectly with the Film Trail concept: an identifiable location, a major movie and a site already accustomed to visitors.
Holsten’s, Bloomfield — “The Sopranos”
Technically television, but the legislation isn’t limited to movies.
Holsten’s became part of television history when David Chase chose the Bloomfield ice cream parlor and restaurant for the final scene of “The Sopranos.” Tony Soprano sits with Carmela and A.J., Meadow approaches from outside, Journey plays on the jukebox — and then the screen goes black.
The original booth was later sold, but Holsten’s remains in business and continues attracting “Sopranos” fans.
Satin Dolls, Lodi — “The Sopranos”
Another obvious North Jersey candidate is the Route 17 club that doubled as the Bada Bing.
Satin Dolls supplied the exterior and some filming locations for Tony Soprano’s fictional strip club throughout the HBO series.
Combined with Holsten’s and other surviving public “Sopranos” locations, it could give the state enough material for an entire North Jersey itinerary.
Ferry Street and the Ironbound, Newark — “War of the Worlds”
Steven Spielberg didn’t need Hollywood to stage an alien invasion.
The terrifying first emergence of the Tripods in the 2005 “War of the Worlds,” starring Tom Cruise, was filmed around Ferry Street, Merchant Street and Wilson Avenue in Newark. Other portions of the movie were filmed elsewhere in New Jersey, including Bayonne.
The Newark sequence remains one of the most recognizable New Jersey locations used in a modern blockbuster.
Princeton and the Institute for Advanced Study — “A Beautiful Mind” and “Oppenheimer”
Princeton has the unusual distinction of being tied to multiple major films about some of the most famous scientific minds of the 20th century.
“A Beautiful Mind,” starring Russell Crowe as mathematician John Nash, filmed in Princeton and elsewhere in New Jersey.
More than two decades later, Christopher Nolan brought “Oppenheimer” to the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, where J. Robert Oppenheimer served as director after World War II. Cillian Murphy and Matt Damon were among those filmed there.
One town could therefore give the Film Trail connections to two Best Picture winners.
Loew’s Jersey Theatre, Jersey City — “Joker”
The historic Loew’s Jersey Theatre has appeared in numerous productions, including the 2019 blockbuster “Joker.”
Joaquin Phoenix’s Gotham City may have been fictional, but parts of that world were built from very real New Jersey locations. The theater’s architecture has made it a natural backdrop for productions seeking an old-city atmosphere.
The building itself dates to 1929, giving a Film Trail stop there both movie and architectural history.
South Mountain Reservation, Essex County — “The Great Train Robbery”
A New Jersey Film Trail could reach considerably farther back than “The Sopranos” or “Clerks.”
“The Great Train Robbery,” released in 1903, was one of the landmarks of early American filmmaking. Portions were shot in New Jersey’s Essex County Park system, including South Mountain Reservation, as well as along the Lackawanna Railroad.
The roughly 12-minute film came at a time when motion pictures themselves were still a novelty.
That gives New Jersey something few states can claim: its proposed film tourism trail can tell a story stretching almost to the beginning of the medium.
Blairstown Diner and Downtown Blairstown — “Friday the 13th”
Camp Crystal Lake doesn’t have to be the only “Friday the 13th” stop.
The production used Blairstown for several sequences, including the Blairstown Diner, while other recognizable locations from the movie remain around the Warren County community.
That creates the possibility of a broader “Friday the 13th” route rather than a single destination — particularly useful because access to Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco itself is limited.
New Jersey Is Turning Film History Into Tourism
The Film Trail comes as New Jersey is experiencing a renewed surge in film and television production.
Shore News Network reported last month on the state’s growing push to become a major East Coast production center, with major studio investments and production activity expanding across the state.
That makes the timing of the trail unusual. It won’t simply document old Hollywood history.
New filming locations can continue to be added.
The law requires the Film Trail website to be updated when the commission identifies another qualifying location, while the public submission system gives movie fans and local businesses a way to bring lesser-known sites to the state’s attention.
There is no fiscal estimate attached to the legislation, and the June committee statement said fiscal information was unavailable.
What New Jersey already has, however, is more than a century of material to work with — from a 1903 train robbery to Jason Voorhees’ Crystal Lake, Daddy Warbucks’ mansion, Tony Soprano’s final meal and the streets where Spielberg unleashed an alien invasion.
