SALISBURY — Mark your calendars for Monday, Sept. 16.
That’s the day “Sleepy Hollow” will premiere on Fox. The pilot was filmed extensively in Salisbury and is expected to feature St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, the Bell Tower and other downtown locations as backdrops for the action.
The “Sleepy Hollow” series premiere has a prime slot in the Fox lineup, airing at 9 p.m. following the season premiere of “Bones” at 8 p.m.
In the modern-day retelling of Washington Irving’s classic, Ichabod Crane, played by British actor Tom Mison, is resurrected and pulled two and a half centuries through time to unravel a mystery that dates back to the founding fathers.
Revived alongside Ichabod is the infamous Headless Horseman, who is on a murderous rampage in present-day Sleepy Hollow.
Crews filmed the pilot here in March, transforming the front lawn of St. Luke’s into a Revolutionary War cemetery where Ichabod Crane awakens from the dead and does battle with the Headless Horseman. Downtown Salisbury locations hosted car chases, gun battles, pyrotechnics and more.
The series also stars Nicole Beharie, Orlando Jones and Katia Winter, with John Cho guest starring in the pilot.
Fox has ordered 12 episodes of the supernatural thriller, but the TV series will not be based in Salisbury. Twentieth Century Fox has moved the show to Wilmington to meet budget and time constraints, a state film official said.
It’s possible crews could return to Salisbury this summer to shoot some scenes,
Sept. 16 will be a big day for the Wilmington film industry. While “Sleepy Hollow” premieres on Fox, the season finale of “Under the Dome” will air an hour earlier on CBS. Both shows are based in the Wilmington area.
Fox is once again staggering its fall-season launches. Unlike rivals NBC and CBS, Fox will premiere almost none of its series during the official premiere week of Sept. 23, instead airing them earlier or later.