Top 5 Movies Filmed in Tulsa, Oklahoma by US Box Office

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Lights, Camera, Tulsa! Dive into the Cinematic Haven of Oklahoma’s Hidden Gem

Lights, camera, action! Step right up, movie buffs, wanderlust enthusiasts, and seekers of neverending excitement. We have a little something that will tickle your fancy, ignite your imagination, and transport you to a realm where dreams come to life. Welcome to Tulsa, Oklahoma – the wildly underrated star of some of your favorite films!

Key Takeaways:

  • Tulsa is a hidden gem for movie enthusiasts, boasting a range of iconic films shot within its charming city limits.
  • Exploring movie filming locations can be a thrilling and immersive experience, offering a unique glimpse into the magic of the silver screen.
  • Not only will you soak up the nostalgia of your favorite flicks, but you’ll also uncover the distinct history and culture of this vibrant city.

Forget the same old humdrum tourist destinations, my adventurous friend. Tulsa grants you a golden ticket into a world where movie magic meets real-life adventure. Allow us to explain why venturing to the filming locations of movies shot in Tulsa is the ultimate way to satiate your wanderlust and cure that boredom bug!

Lights, camera, let’s roll!

When you visit Tulsa’s movie filming locations, prepare to enter a dazzling realm where reality intertwines effortlessly with the mesmerizing world of cinema. Whether you’re a proud movie geek or simply seeking something out of the ordinary, this treasure trove of cinematic gems will captivate your senses and rejuvenate your love for film.

Imagine strolling the same streets where beloved characters once roamed, feeling like you’re a part of their story. Share a chuckle at quirky behind-the-scenes anecdotes, like the time the cast mistook a flock of geese for unruly extras or giggling while pondering the secret lives of grumpy local cats coerced into playing “neighborhood pets.” It’s the perfect blend of movie trivia, exploration, and pure unadulterated fun!

Now, let us tempt you with a taste of Tulsa’s cinematic offerings. Experience the iconic charm of Cherry Street, where heroes triumphed and villains schemed.

Feast your eyes upon the awe-inspiring architecture that served as the backdrop for heart-stopping chase scenes and romantic rendezvous. Picture yourself stepping into the shoes of your favorite actor, heroically embracing the spirit of adventure.

Let the allure of this diverse array of movie filming locations sweep you off your feet. From enchanting art districts to sprawling parks and beyond, Tulsa’s celluloid tapestry begs to be unraveled. And as you traverse the city’s streets, don’t forget to savor the local cuisine, mingle with friendly faces, and immerse yourself in the vibrant culture that breathes life into each frame captured onscreen.

So, my fellow wanderers, gather your popcorn and tune in to a different kind of adventure. Embark on a journey where fantasy meets reality, where you become the protagonist of your own remarkable tale. Get those movie-loving hearts racing and dive headfirst into the magic lurking in the charming corners of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Lights, camera, Tulsa! Grab your passport to entertainment, pack your sense of wonder, and embark on a cinematic odyssey like no other.

Surrender to the allure, and let the movies unfold before your very eyes – for the real world holds as much magic as anything you’ll ever see onscreen. Adventure awaits, fellow traveler, and Tulsa is calling your name!

Now, go ahead, take a peek at the marvelous listicle below and unearth the cinematic gems that await you in Tulsa, the land where dreams come to life. Lights, camera, get exploring!

The Outsiders – US Box Office Hit: USD$25,837,195millions

Director: Francis Ford Coppola 

Main Cast: C. Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze

Release Date: 17 December 1983

Filming Locations: Admiral Twin Drive-In, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA; Skiatook, Oklahoma, USA; Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA; Owasso, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma, USA

Main Plot: Ponyboy Curtis lives on the “wrong side of the tracks” with his two orphaned brothers. Since Darrel became the family caregiver, he’s always in Ponyboy’s case. Third brother Sodapop dropped out to work full-time. They’re all Greasers, a north side and working-class gang. Ponyboy worries that any trouble they have, especially with the Greasers, may prompt the government to divide up his family. He feels Darrel would have outgrown them and become someone if not for his gang loyalty and family responsibilities. The rest of the world perceives the Greasers as all the same, with Dallas Winston, the most volatile, as the face, despite each boy’s individual outlook on life. The public views the Socs, the Greasers’ main competitors, as rich spoilt, entitled guys from the south side of town, despite being individuals. Ponyboy and Cherry Valance link the gangs, something Bob Sheldon doesn’t like. An event involves Socs, Ponyboy, and 16-year-old Greaser Johnny Cade, a sensitive boy whose parents ignore him. Greasers and Socs agree to a rumble after Ponyboy and Johnny’s lives are threatened. 

Famous quotes:

Ponyboy: “Nature’s first green is gold / Her hardest hue to hold / Her early leaf’s a flower / But only so an hour / Then leaf subsides to leaf / So Eden sank to grief / So dawn goes down to day / Nothing gold can stay.”

Johnny: “Where did you learn that? That’s what I meant.”

Ponyboy: “Robert Frost wrote it. I always remembered it because I never quite knew what he meant by it.”

Johnny: “Ponyboy, I asked the nurse to give you this book so you could finish it. It was worth saving those little kids. Their lives are worth more than mine. They have more to live for. Tell Dally it was worth it. I’m just gonna miss you guys. I’ve been thinking about it, and that poem, that guy that wrote it. He meant you are gold when you’re a kid, like green. When you’re a kid everything is new, dawn. It’s just. Like the way you dig sunsets, Pony. That’s gold. Keep it that way, it’s a good way to be. I want you to tell Dally to look at one. I don’t think he’s ever really seen a sunset. There’s still a lot of good in the world. Tell Dally. I don’t think he knows. Your buddy, Johnny.”

Steve: “Hate to tell you this, buddy, but you have to wear clothes to work. There’s a law or something.”

Fun Fact about The Outsiders

  • The 1920s didn’t have crop dusters. Two young boys are seen using a crop duster in the opening sequence of Pearl Harbor, which takes place in 1923. Most moviegoers are unaware that crop dusters weren’t commercially accessible until the late 1930s or roughly 15 years after that little scene—a little film error, but interesting information.

The Frighteners  – US Box Office Hit: USD$16,759,216 millions

Director: Peter Jackson 

Main Cast:  Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado, Peter Dobson, John Astin

Release Date: 19 July 1996

Filming Locations: Wellington, New Zealand; Camperdown Studios, Camperdown Road, Miramar, Wellington, New Zealand; Lyttelton, Canterbury, New Zealand; Miramar, Wellington, New Zealand;  Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

Main Plot: A guy learns he can talk to the dead after his wife is killed in a car accident, and he utilizes this ability to scam others. But when the spirit of the dead returns to disrupt the living, he might be the only one who can stop it. After losing his wife, Debra, in a car accident and suffering injuries himself, Frank Bannister gets the ability to see, hear, and converse with the dead. After the death of his wife, Frank stopped working as an architect and allowed his unfinished “dream house” to lay unfinished for years. He then used his architectural training by making friends with some ghosts and convincing them to haunt local homes so that he could “exorcise” them for a charge. But when Frank learns that a figure resembling the Grim Reaper is killing individuals by tattooing identification numbers on their foreheads, he sets out to aid the victims.

Famous quotes:

Judge: “When a man’s jawbone drops off, it’s time to reassess the situation.”

Dr. Lucy Lynskey: “Tell me, why is it that you can see Ray and I can’t?”

Frank Bannister: “I was in an accident. A car accident… about five years ago. I don’t know if they say that sometimes, when you have a traumatic experience that it can alter your perception.”

Frank Bannister: “Johnny Bartlett. I thought guys like you fried in Hell.”

Johnny Charles Bartlett: “I got out, Frank. I’ve been carrying on the good work. Got me a score of forty.”

Sequel: The Frighteners 2 

Fun Fact about The Frighteners

  • Back to the Future (1985) trilogy flubs include Michael J. Fox embarrassingly calling John Astin’s character, The Judge, “Doc,” the name of Christopher Lloyd’s character.
  • While filming this in New Zealand, Michael J. Fox felt he needed a break from the movie industry and returned to television in the lead role of a sitcom, Spin City (1996). Indeed, this turned out to be his final starring role.

Tex –  US Box Office Hit: USD$7,400,000millions

Director: Tim Hunter

Main Cast: Matt Dillon, Jim Metzler, Meg Tilly, Bill McKinney

Release Date: 30 July 1982

Filming Locations:  Bell’s Amusement Park – 3901 E. 21st Street, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA; Bixby, Oklahoma, USA;  Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, USA; Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

Main Plot: After the passing of his mother and his father’s departure, Tex McCormick (Matt Dillon), who had spent his childhood on a farm with his older brother Mason (Jim Metzler), begins to experience emotional upheaval. While Tex and Mason make an effort to live on their own in the country, their relatively autonomous existence is put in jeopardy by the problems that they each face as teenagers. In the meantime, Tex falls in love with a local girl named Jamie Collins (played by Meg Tilly), who also happens to be the sister of his good buddy Johnny Collins (played by Emilio Estevez), and must deal with the displeasure of their father, Cole (Ben Johnson).

Famous quotes:

Fortune Teller: “You may think of one yes or no question to yourself.”

Tex McCormick: [He sees a horse pass by and thinks about Rowdy] “Yeah, Ok.”

Fortune Teller: “I am sorry the answer is no.”

Tex McCormick: [Whimpers] “Oh no…”

Mason McCormick: [walks into Tex’s room] “Tex? You alright? You lose Something?”

Tex McCormick: [laying under his bed with only his feet sticking out] “It’s kinda nice down here. Cool and Quiet.”

Mason McCormick: “Yeah, well maybe you should hurry it up so you can come have breakfast under the kitchen table. Then maybe you can catch a ride under the school bus!”
Tex McCormick: [Gets up from under his bed and wraps a blanket around him] “You would like that wouldn’t you?”

Fun Fact about Tex

  • When S.E. Hinton, the author of the original novel, first encountered Matt Dillon (Tex), he said to him in his thick New York accent, “Yo, S.E., I thought you were a man!” Matt Dillon played the role of Tex in the film adaptation. Hinton recalls that, at first, he was apprehensive about having a young man from the city perform the role of a young cowboy from the country. Now, Hinton has revealed that, in her opinion, one of Dillon’s most impressive performances was just witnessed. After that, Dillon starred in two further cinematic adaptations of Hinton’s novels, including Rumble Fish (1983) and The Outsiders (1983). (1983).

UHF – US Box Office Hit: USD$6,157,157millions

Director: Jay Levey  

Main Cast: Weird Al’ Yankovic, Victoria Jackson, Kevin McCarthy, Michael Richards

Release Date: 21 July 1989

Filming Locations: 2570 South Harvard Avenue, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA; 6655 South Lewis Avenue, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA;  6835 East 15th Street, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA; Agua Dulce, California, USA; Ernie Miller Pontiac – 4700 South Memorial Drive – Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

Main Plot: A man who was out of work and full of ideas was hired as a local television station manager because of his vision. The station is a hit, thanks to its abundance of crazy jokes and visual gags. George Newman cannot keep a job since his overactive imagination makes him a daydreamer. His uncle thinks George is just the man to run Channel 62, a struggling TV network losing viewers and money rapidly. The station’s ratings start to rise again once George replaces the reruns with offbeat shows like “Stanley Spadowski’s Clubhouse,” “Wheel of Fish,” and “Raul’s the Wild Kingdom.” The ruthless media magnate R.J. Fletcher is seething with rage because the UHF station performs better in the ratings than his network. Unable to pay off his gambling debts, the uncle is considering selling the station to Fletcher, who would be happy to shut it down (he cannot legally own two stations in the same town). To save the town’s new favorite station, Channel 62, George and his pals stage a 48-hour telethon in which investment shares from the station are sold.

Famous quotes:

Kuni: “Ahhh, a red snapper. Mmmmm, very tasty. Okay, Weaver, listen carefully. You can hold on to your red snapper…”

Kuni: “or you can go for what’s in the box that Hiro-san is bringing down the aisle right now! What’s it gonna be?”

Phyllis Weaver: “I’ll take the box. The box!”

Kuni: “You took the box? Let’s see what’s in the box!”

Kuni: “Nothing! Absolutely nothing! STUPID! You’re so STU-PIIIIIIIIIIID!”

Fun Facts about UHF

  • A billboard on an isolated section of roadway was purchased by the production company so that it could be used in the shot of the Spatula City advertisement. For several months after the event, motorists using the exit would inquire about Spatula City at the neighboring shops. After receiving numerous complaints, the advertisement was taken down in the end.
  • Weird Al Yankovic claims that Kevin McCarthy frequently laughed after completing a take in which his persona was particularly obnoxious.
  • In the documentary Behind the Music: ‘Weird Al Yankovic (1999), Emo Philips displays a screen actors guild residual check for the thirty cents he received for his work on this film. He said with great pride that the cheque represented what participating in this film had done for his career.

Home Run – US Box Office Hit: USD$2,861,020millions

Director: David Boyd  

Main Cast: Scott Elrod, Dorian Brown Pham, Charles Henry Wyson, James Devoti

Release Date: 19 April 2013

Filming Locations: Okmulgee, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma, USA; Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

Main Plot: After being exiled back to his small hometown, a former baseball star pretends to sober up so that he may get back on the team, gains popularity by coaching a local youth team, and makes amends with his son, whom he had previously abandoned. Cory Brand (Scott Elrod), a troubled baseball all-star, is suspended from his club after a high-profile DUI. He tries to turn his life around by enrolling in a 12-step program and coaching a kid’s baseball team in his small hometown. At first, Cory can’t wait to finish his rehab and get back to baseball. The hesitant coach finds that the more time he spends with his enthusiastic young players, the more he comes to like playing and coaching. While Cory is trying to make amends with God, a former flame gives him reason to believe that things can change for the better.

Famous quotes:

Tyler: “Nothing great happens when you hold back.”

Fun Fact about Home Run

  • John Townsend, or JT as he is referred to throughout the film, is the protagonist. True to his name, Dr. John Townsend is a Christian psychologist and a forerunner in developing Christian counseling as a distinct discipline worldwide. He currently makes his home in SoCal, where he also does a radio program.

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