Dear Sun Spots: I have just watched the movie “Message in a Bottle.” Some scenes from the movie were filmed in Maine. Would anybody know where in Maine the scenes were filmed? Thank you. – Lorraine Perron, Lisbon.

Answer: According to www.portlandmaine.about.com, millions of moviegoers around the country flocked to see Kevin Costner’s romantic drama “Message in a Bottle,” but few knew that the movie, which is set in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, was actually largely filmed in Bath, New Harbor, Phippsburg (Popham Beach), Boothbay Harbor and Portland, Maine.

One of the primary filming locations was New Harbor, a fishing village and tourist destination south of Damariscotta. The film crew constructed a diner near Shaw’s Wharf and changed the home port painted on the boats in the harbor to New Harbor, N.C. A number of locals appear as extras in the film. The beach scenes in the movie were filmed at Popham Beach, south of Bath. The film company made a four-bedroom, 1800s summer cottage on Popham Beach, with views of the Kennebec River channel, Bay Point in Georgetown, and Sequin Island lighthouse, into the home of Costner’s character.

A 130-year-old house at 97 Danforth St. in Portland, just down the street from Victoria Mansion, was remodeled and used in the movie as Penn’s Chicago townhome. Scenes of Costner building a sailboat were filmed at the boat shop at the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath.

Based on The New York Times bestseller, “Message in a Bottle,” by Nicholas Sparks, the movie is about a Chicago Tribune researcher named Theresa Osborne, played by Robin Wright Penn (“Forrest Gump,” “The Princess Bride”), who discovers a bottle containing a passionate and heart-wrenching love letter, while walking on a deserted beach. The letter moves her to search for the author, a quest that eventually takes her to North Carolina’s Outer Banks and a sailboat builder named Garret Blake, played by Costner (“Bull Durham,” “Dances With Wolves”), who has lived a lonely life since the death of his wife.

You may also be interested in noting there were many other movies filmed in Maine. Among them:

“The Cider House Rules,” an Oscar winning movie from 1999 starred Tobey Maguire, Michael Caine and Charlize Theron, was filmed partly in Bernard, Maine, and at Sand Beach in Acadia National Park.

“Storm of the Century” was filmed in 1999 in Southwest Harbor on Mount Desert Island and starred Tim Daly and Debrah Farentino.

“In the Bedroom,” a 2001 melodrama starring Sissy Spacek and Marisa Tomei won an award at the Sundance Film Festival. The movie features a number of Maine locations, including Rockland, Camden, Rockport, Belfast, Owls Head, Old Orchard Beach, Trevett and Wiscasset.

“The Man Without a Face,” starred Mel Gibson, and was filmed in 1993 in Rockport, Cape Rosier, Bath, Brunswick, Portland and Rockland.

“Peyton Place,” a 1957 film starring Lana Turner and Hope Lange was filmed in Camden and Belfast, and is still a classic.

A Stephen King movie, “Thinner,” was filmed in 1996 in Camden, Appleton, Belfast, Portland and Thomaston.

“Casper,” a story of the famous friendly ghost, was filmed in 1995 in Camden. The story was set in the quaint fishing village of Friendship, but ironically the producers thought Friendship wasn’t quaint enough so they chose Camden instead.

“Carousel,” the 1956 classic starred Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones and was filmed in Boothbay Harbor and Newcastle.

Stephen King’s 1989 “Pet Sematary” starring Fred Gwynne and Dale Midkiff was filmed in Hancock, Acadia, Bangor and Ellsworth. Gwynne’s attempt at a Maine accent is one of the most appalling in film history.

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