Filming heating up in the Port City

The Wilmington area is getting busy with several new TV shows and a (not-so) new movie being filmed there.

A new TV pilot called "Playing With Guns" is slated to start filming soon. "If the show is picked up it will air on Spike TV," says the Star-News.

Danny Masterson (“That ‘70s Show”) and Joey Kern (“Cabin Fever”) will likely star in “Playing With Guns,” according to TheWrap. Its story line revolves around two high school buddies who become cops. They do the police work, but they also like the idea of getting paid to hang out, carry loaded weapons and hit on women.

We have already mentioned the as-yet-untitled medical drama from John Wells that is filming around Wilmington. But since then some new names have joined the cast, notably UNCW alum Skeet Ulrich and Sissy Spacek. As the paper's Jeff Hidek writes, having Spacek on board means that the "project’s chances of pick-up are slightly better." I would agree.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Spacek will play the cancer-stricken leader of a mobile medical team that travels around the country helping in times of emergency. Spacek will play the mother of “Twilight” actress Rachelle Lefevre’s character.

Spacek, who just wrapped a winning supporting role on “Big Love,” is the biggest name in a cast that also includes Janeane Garofalo, Skeet Ulrich, Amy Smart, Michael Beach and Jay Hernandez.

By the way, Spacek has worked here twice before, on “Marie: A True Story” in 1984 and “Crimes of the Heart” in 1986.

Ulrich will play a Harvard-educated cardiologist with a junkie ex-wife he still loves and a 6-year-old daughter.

And, finally, "Bolden" is back in the area and will begin filming in June.

"Bolden!” follows the life and times of musical legend Buddy Bolden, who turned the New Orleans music scene upside down with his loud, often improvisational cornet style that would later be known as jazz.

The movie filmed in the Wilmington area from March through September 2007 and gained notoriety in the local film community for its elaborate sets and costuming. The movie is rumored to have cost $10 million. Writer/Director Dan Pritzker was reported by Forbes magazine to be worth $1.7 billion in hotels and investments.

Notable cast and crew include Anthony Mackie, Jackie Earle Haley, Omar Gooding and executive producer Wynton Marsalis. No word yet on if any of the main cast members will be back in town.

While “Bolden!” was filming, the cast and crew also simultaneously made a silent film called “The Great Observer,” which focuses on Louis Armstrong's role in jazz history. It's still listed as being in production.