Wilmington film pioneer Martha De Laurentiis dies at age 67
WILMINGTON, NC (StarNews) — An influential figure in making Wilmington a hub for TV and film production has died.
Martha DeLaurentiis, who with her husband, Dino, brought an entertainment group here in the 1980s, died at age 67 on Saturday after a long battle with cancer, according to several media outlets, including Variety.
In 1980, she formed the Dino De Laurentiis Company with eventual husband, Dino. They set up shop in Wilmington on 23rd Street (now EUE Screen Gems) and put together a string of movies shot in the Port City, from “Firestarter” to “Maximum Overdrive,” “Blue Velvet” and “Crimes of the Heart” among others, bringing in such stars as Drew Barrymore, Emilio Estevez, Stephen King, Sissy Spacek, Dennis Hopper and more.
Martha, who was associate producer on many of the Wilmington-shot films of the 1980s, later became president of the company after Dino’s death in 2010.
De Laurentiis was a guest on a 2019 episode of the StarNews’ Cape Fear Unearthed podcast upon the 35th anniversary of “Firestarter,” when she first became a producer after threatening to leave the company.
