First Friday makes way for sparklers on the Fourth, Superman movie early screening comes to Macon 

A word to the wise: if a stranger asks you directions to The Daily Planet this summer, just point them to Terminal Station at the end of Poplar Street.

Another word to the wise: don’t go to First Friday this Friday.

These are connected, so here we go.

First, because July’s first Friday falls on the Fourth of July, First Friday is being celebrated on Friday next week, July 11.

“We only shift First Friday if it falls on an actual holiday, which it did this month,” said NewTown Macon’s Emily Hopkins. “We reviewed the calendar at the beginning of the year and shared the information with our merchants.”

There will be the usual great events and offers in the art world, shops, venues, eating spots, and, according to Hopkins, “July First Friday coincides with the last night of French Fry Fight, which is always a popular and exciting event. We’re excited for it to enhance First Friday this year.”

***

Now to The Daily Planet/”Superman” connection.

This summer is being dubbed the Summer of Superman by DC and Warner Bros., marking the July 11 release of 2025’s new “Superman” movie – the first solo Superman release in 12 years.

Macon’s Terminal Station got a “starring” role in the film from director James Gunn for interior shots of The Daily Planet, the incognito day-job home of Clark Kent, aka Superman, along with Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and Perry White.

In the new movie, David Corenswet stars as Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lane, Skyler Gisondo as Olsen and Wendell Pierce as White.

Added treats are Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Nicholas Hoult as the ever-villainous Lex Luthor – and the list goes on.

As we’ll see, this is big for Macon.

And get this: the folks of the Macon Film Festival, Visit Macon and AmStar 16 have combined their superpowers to arrange an early screening of “Superman” on Thursday, July 10, at 7:15 p.m. at the theater’s 5996 Zebulon Road.

I hear it will also kick off Macon Film Fest’s 20th anniversary with festival prizes and whatnot, but the big prize will be scoring tickets to it.

“Macon Film Fest is super excited to be able to partner with AmStar and Santikos Entertainment to do this early screening and super excited to be working with AmStar for the first time in quite a few years,” said Hannah Hartman, film festival president. “We’ll have information there about the coming Aug. 21-24 festival and some of the initiatives we have planned leading up to it, like our outdoor movies downtown. People can find out about getting to see ‘Superman’ early and our other plans by following us on social media. The ‘Superman’ screening has a Facebook event page.”

***

For the July 11 First Friday, Visit Macon is planning a related debut of its own. It will be the launch of the Visit Macon Film Tour, including Terminal Station. Now, you’ll be able to catch a Visit Macon van and travel Macon’s star-studded streets to film locations like the historic Douglass Theatre, Capitol Theatre and Luther Williams Field and other spots that have had roles in films like “The Color Purple,” “42,” “A Jazzman’s Blues,” “The Best of Enemies,” HBO’s “Watchmen,” “Wise Blood” and many more.

And, along the way, the best part is getting behind-the-scenes stories, filming secrets and discovering all the charm and some of the insight into the locations that keep Hollywood coming back to shoot here again and again.

Visit Macon’s Marisa Rodgers said a tour can be booked at visitmacon.org, and that there’s information there on other types of driving and walking tours as well. She said Visit Macon will be using “Superman’s” blockbuster connection to promote tourism throughout the summer. 

Aaron Buzza is the senior vice president and COO of Visit Macon and heads the Macon Film Commission. He had more to say about Macon and “Superman.”

“It’s exciting whenever films and TV shows use locations in Macon and it’s particularly exciting to be part of the new ‘Superman’ movie and have Terminal Station highlighted throughout the film,” he said.

Buzza said Macon got the call about using the station in a particularly good way.

“When the production designer showed around drawings of what he and James Gunn envisioned for The Daily Planet, two guys in the location department looked at each other and said, ‘That’s Terminal Station in Macon.’ They said they thought the production designer actually had a picture of Terminal Station. We had exactly what they were looking for.”

The Terminal Station was used for interior shots of The Daily Planet. Work altering the outside of the building was only done so that it looked like you were seeing the Metropolis skyline when a scene was shot from inside the building looking out.

The fact that Macon was selected was a great score, but the fact that it shows people in the business are increasingly familiar with Macon and know what it offers is good news indeed.

“It was nice to hear people immediately thought of Macon,” Buzza said. “It means we’re getting the word out in the right way and we’re making the right connections. People who haven’t worked here and those who have already been here on productions are thinking about us.”

And they’re thinking good things.

“Something I always talk about with businesses here is that if we make a good impression, which we always do, it means return business,” Buzza said. “A lot of that is through word of mouth. For example, the people who came here to make ‘Black Widow’ know we have tons of good, unique locations and they know the city is easy to work with. What they get interested in might not even be something they were thinking of location-wise when they were here but something they happen to have driven by on their way from their hotel to the set. They’re going to remember it when they need it and that’s particularly exciting.”

It’s not just what they see, though.

“The feedback I get is that people really enjoy working and making movies in Macon,” Buzza said. “I just spoke to someone Monday who’s coming back to shoot another project here who absolutely loves Macon. Of course, it has to do with our unique and different architecture and all, but he said he appreciated the friendliness and how easy it is to work here.”

So, enjoy the Fourth this weekend and then an early view of “Superman” if you get tickets next week. Then enjoy all First Friday has to offer on July 11. You might even see more superhero connections – I hear the Court of Miracles folks will be at their usual spot on Poplar Street and are thinking about a “Superman” theme.

Contact writer Michael W. Pannell at mwpannell@gmail.com. Find him on Instagram at michael_w_pannell.