Scenes of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark attending a ball at the home of President Snow in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was shot both inside and outside the Swan House in Atlanta.
Whether it's The Hunger Games, Forrest Gump or The Walking Dead, whenever Hollywood films a hit movie or TV show in Georgia you can be sure the tourist dollars will follow.
Lee Thomas, the deputy commissioner in charge of the film division of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, says a boost in tourism is one of the greatest economic bonuses the state gets from providing scenery and backdrops for cinematic and TV projects.
Here are five of the most popular Georgia movie locations fans can see up close.
FORREST GUMP PARK BENCH
OK, so the actual park bench on which Tom Hanks sat comparing life to a box of chocolates in the 1994 film Forrest Gump was just a prop. But the picture-postcard backdrop was the very real Chippewa Square in the centre of Savannah's downtown historic district. The square's gnarled oaks dripping with Spanish moss and towering monument to Georgia's founding father, General James Edward Oglethorpe, make it instantly recognisable to fans of the Oscar-winning movie directed by Robert Zemeckis. It's still sought out by movie buffs 20 years later.
WALKING DEAD MAIN STREET
The Swan House: The 1923 Atlanta mansion gets screen time in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire as the home of President Snow, played by Donald Sutherland.
Beyond the apocalyptic ruins of Atlanta, survivors of the zombie-infested countryside in AMC's TV series The Walking Dead find a refuge where a fragile society has walled itself off inside the small town of Woodbury. The town's Main Street thoroughfare seen on TV is actually downtown Senoia, a city of 3750 located 56 kilometres south of Atlanta. Undead fan-demonium has spawned a thriving tourism trade in Senoia, where officials say the number of storefronts has grown from six to 47 since the zombies arrived. The new businesses include a Woodbury Shoppe that sells Walking Dead souvenirs.
DELIVERANCE STILL DELIVERS
In many ways, the story of Georgia's long-distance romance with Hollywood starts with the filming of Deliverance in the north Georgia mountains. The 1972 movie starring Burt Reynolds has been criticised for embracing hillbilly stereotypes. But the film's stunning views of the Chattooga River are credited with helping spawn a $US20 million ($A21.64 million) rafting and outdoor sports industry that still draws visitors four decades later. Deliverance had such an impact, then-Governor Jimmy Carter created a state film office in 1973 to ensure Georgia kept landing movie roles.
HUNGER GAMES HOUSE
Set amid dystopian squalor and sci-fi opulence, the Hunger Games series wasn't exactly geared toward depicting recognisable landmarks from present-day Atlanta, where the sequels Catching Fire and Mockingjay - Part 1 were filmed. The Swan House is one big exception. The 1923 Atlanta mansion gets screen time in both movies as the home of President Snow, played by Donald Sutherland. Filmmakers shot scenes both inside and outside the Swan House, which is located on the 13-hectare campus of the Atlanta History Centre. The historic home's museum and grounds are open for tours daily.
VAMPIRE DIARIES DINER
Hardcore fans of The Vampire Diaries TV series know that landmarks in the fictional town of Mystic Falls, Virginia, are actually filmed in the small city of Covington, Georgia. One of the supernatural series' most recognisable locations has been the Mystic Grill, an office building transformed into the exterior of a restaurant for the show. Damage from a 2012 fire left the building vacant until a couple bought it and turned it into a real eatery named - you guessed it - the Mystic Grill. It opened in early 2014, a few months before the fictional Mystic Grill was blown to smithereens in an explosion at the end of the show's fifth season.
AP
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