‘Fans from all over the world’ headed to Mansfield to celebrate movie classic
Celebrities are expected to soon confirm whether they will be in Mansfield this summer for the 30th anniversary of “The Shawshank Redemption.”
Every member of the movie’s cast and crew has been invited, according to Dan Smith, associate director of the Ohio State Reformatory, the iconic prison recognized worldwide as Shawshank State Penitentiary.
“Of course, we would love all the actors to be here,” Smith said. “We’ll start to release cast names by next week. It will be a continuing work in progress, because of scheduling — there are always conflicts they have.”
“The Shawshank Redemption” 30th anniversary celebration will take place Aug. 9-11 at the movie’s 15 filming sites throughout North Central Ohio, known as the The Shawshank Trail.
Stephen King brought the story to life sometime in the 1970s with his novella “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption,” which was published in 1982 along with three others in the book “Different Seasons.”
“Shawshank Redemption” was filmed over the summer of 1993, then released in September 1994.
The Internet Movie Database still lists “The Shawshank Redemption” as the best movie ever made, ahead of “The Godfather” and “The Dark Knight.”
Director Frank Darabont and nearly a dozen others from the cast and crew returned to Mansfield in the summer of 2019 to celebrate their picture’s 25th birthday.
Darabont told an audience then that Castle Rock Entertainment had originally planned a very different cast and crew, which included Hollywood legends Rob Reiner and Tom Cruise.
“It wouldn’t have been this movie,” Darabont said in Mansfield in 2019. “It wouldn’t have been my movie.”
Something to see at all sites on the Shawshank Trail
Those who returned to Mansfield in 2019 with their director included Bob Gunton (Warden Norton), Gil Bellows (Tommy) and Mark Rolston (Bogs Diamond).
There were also Scott Mann and Renee Blaine, who played the man and woman found having an affair at the start of the movie, as well as Claire Slemmer, a local woman who played a bank teller.
Alfonso Freeman, star Morgan Freeman’s son, even visited Mansfield in 2019 to share how the movie helped him break into the acting community.
As a whole, the film’s 25th anniversary attracted more than 19,000 people to Richland County, according to Jodie Snavely, special projects director for Destination Mansfield.
The goal is to exceed that number of guests this year, making the 30th anniversary even more memorable than the 25th.
“We’ve all partnered together and there will be something going on at all of the Shawshank Trail sites,” Snavely said. “Malabar Farm will have wagon rides back to Pugh Cabin, where the opening scene was filmed, and of course the wood shop in Upper Sandusky will be open.”
The complete list of Shawshank events is still growing.
“There will be so many great things,” Snavely said. “Fans from all over the world can come and enjoy the celebration weekend.”