End of an era: Wilmington's EUE/Screen Gems Studios sold to Cinespace

The EUE/Screen Gems Studios complex in Wilmington, a hub of film and television production for nearly four decades now, has been sold to Cinespace Studios, according to a news release Wednesday afternoon.

As part of the deal, Cinespace also acquired the EUE/Screen Gems complex in Atlanta. A price tag for the purchase, which had been rumored for months but not confirmed until today, was not announced.

"We’re excited to announce our expansion into Atlanta and Wilmington," Ashley Rice, president and co-managing partner of Cinespace, said in the release. "Through the strategic acquisition of these well-regarded studio facilities, we're expanding our footprint in the industry."

According to the release, "The locations will operate as Cinespace Atlanta and Cinespace Wilmington."

Cinespace is one of the largest sound stage businesses in the world, with 86 active stages in Chicago, Toronto and Germany that have hosted such productions as Hulu/FX show "The Bear" and Academy Award-winning film "The Shape of Water."

The deal gives Cinespace an additional 360,000 square feet of production space on 13 sound stages in Atlanta, and 152,000 square feet of production space on 10 stages in Wilmington.

EUE/Screen Gems acquired the Wilmington studio lot in 1996 when it was known as Carolco Studios. Frank Capra Jr., son of the Oscar-winning director, came to Wilmington to run Screen Gems. The studios were orginally built by Italian film producer Dino DeLaurentiis in 1984.

Hundreds of film and TV productions have shot there over the decades, including "Iron Man 3," "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" and many more.

It's the second big studio news to hit Wilmington this year. In August, independent film studio Dark Horse announced a major expansion.

Film and TV production in Wilmington and nationwide has been shut down since May, when the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, seeking better pay in addition to other demands. The writers were later joined on the picket line by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).

The WGA recently ended its strike, but SAG has not. Industry insiders predict a surge in production once both strikes have ended.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: EUE/Screen Gems Studios in Wilmington NC sold to Cinespace