WHATEVER HAPPENED TO...

Ledger FILE PHOTO Amy Ellison is shown here during her role as an extra in the movie "Walker" that was shot in Gaffney in the summer of 2005. The movie remains in limbo with no word on when, or if, it will ever be released.

The movie "Walker Payne" is still awaiting a release date nearly three years after being filmed in Gaffney.

A crew from Persistent Entertainment in California filmed many scenes for the 1950s era movie inside Mabry's Restaurant on Birnie Street in Gaffney. The restaurant was renamed The Atomic Diner for the film.

The film starred Jason Patric ("Speed 2," "The Lost Boys"). It was written and directed by Matt Williams, creator of the popular "Home Improvement" television series.

The movie was independently financed and world premiered at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival.

City of Gaffney project coordinator Pat Throneburg has inquired about the status of the Walker Payne" movie on several occasions.

"Every time I have asked about it I have been told that a release date hasn't been scheduled for the film," Throneburg said. "I hope the movie will be released on DVD. I think there would be a lot of local interest in seeing the movie, especially since several scenes in the movie were filmed in Gaffney."

E-mails and phone calls by The Gaffney Ledger to Persistent Entertainment have been unable to confirm a theatrical or DVD release date for "Walker Payne."

Patric played a newly unemployed quarry worker who is denied access to his two daughters because he can't pay his child support payments, according to a movie plot summary from a 2006 Tribeca Film Festival review.

Walker's ex-wife, Lou Ann, makes a deal with Walker that he can buy the kids from her for $5,000, according to the plot summary. A mysterious stranger convinces Walker to become a novice dogfighter and put his pit bull in the ring for the chance to earn enough money so he can see his kids.

The movie was shot on location in and around South Carolina, North Carolina, and Ohio. Persistent Entertainment was the first production company to take advantage of South Carolina's film incentive law which exempts major film productions from local and state sales and use taxes capped at $7.7 million. Film productions receive a 15 percent rebate on taxable wages up to $10 million.

The movie "Leatherheads" starring George Clooney was filmed in the Upstate area of South Carolina and is currently in movie theaters.