A marching band, famous movie "characters," and a champagne christening welcomed the re-opening of the famous Courthouse Square film location to Universal Studios Hollywood's Studio Tour trams, which are now newly equipped as "mobile movie theaters" with hi-def video monitors, all-new video content and state-of-the art audio systems.
The re-opening of Courthouse Square marks a milestone in the largest set construction project in Hollywood history, an ongoing project undertaken by the studio following the four-acre June 2008 fire that impacted several famous film locations on the historic studio backlot. All of the other backlot locations are set to open in the spring of next year.
Courthouse Square, now fully restored, is the world's most-photographed town square, and the site of over a thousand movie and TV shoots dating back to the 1940s
The location is widely known as Hillsboro's main square in the "Back to the Future" film series. It was previously known as "Mockingbird Square" after serving as a principal location for the Oscar-winning "To Kill a Mockingbird." It was dressed as Buffalo, NY for Jim Carey in "Bruce Almighty," as River City, Iowa for the great musical, "The Music Man," as Wellman College for "The Nutty Professor," and as the center of Sweet Apple, Ohio in the classic "Bye Bye Birdie." It's been overrun by "Gremlins," by large people in "Village of the Giants" and aliens in "They Came From Outer Space." Steven Spielberg filmed it as the courthouse in "Amistad."
The CBS hit drama Ghost Whisperer has called the historical town square at Universal Studios home since 2005. According to the show's producers, "We are thrilled that it has been rebuilt and can't wait to start production for our fifth season premiering this fall on Fridays at 8pm/7pm central on CBS."
Universal Studios Hollywood(SM), The Entertainment Capital of L.A.(SM), includes a movie-based theme park and Studio Tour, the CityWalk entertainment, shopping and dining complex, the Universal Cinemas and the Gibson Amphitheatre concert and special event venue. The theme park features the groundbreaking attractions "The Simpsons Ride(TM)," "Revenge of the Mummy(SM) - The Ride," "Shrek 4-D," "Jurassic Park - The Ride" and the world-renowned Studio Tour, which takes guests behind-the-scenes of such landmark TV and movie locations and sets as Steven Spielberg's "War of the Worlds" and ABC's hit TV series "Desperate Housewives." Universal CityWalk features 65 entertainment-themed restaurants, nightclubs, shops and dynamic entertainment options. The Universal CityWalk Cinemas, which includes California's largest IMAX venue, features the best movie-going experience in Los Angeles.
Universal Studios Hollywood is a unit of Universal Parks & Resorts, a division of Universal Studios, a part of NBC Universal. NBC Universal is one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May of 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80% owned by General Electric (NYSE:GE) , with 20% controlled by Vivendi Universal.
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