Alabama
11 movies that would be better if they were set in Alabama
Have you ever wondered how much different (and dare we say, better) your favorite movie would if it was set in Alabama?
This is Alabama recently asked its Facebook followers what movie they thought would have been better if it had been set in Alabama, and the responses make some fair, and funny, points. After all, a James Spann appearance feels like a must in a movie called “Twister,” and a flick called “Fear and Loathing in Phenix City”? Well, we’d watch it.
You can check out some of the responses below, and you can also see some movies already set in Alabama that readers think would have been better if they had been filmed in Alabama…because believe it or not, “Sweet Home Alabama” wasn’t.
Movies that would be better if they were set in Alabama
Meteorologist James Spann. (Ben Flanagan/al.com)
“‘Twister’. They could use James Spann. The Polygon would be a much better tool than Dorothy.” — Brooks Hughey
“‘Where Eagle’s Dare’ except they have to jump off Chimney Rock and jet ski to Kowaliga bridge but it gets blown up by illegal fireworks before they can run across it so they go eat at SpringHouse instead.” — Christine Turner
“Put ‘Paper Moon’ back in Alabama where the book was originally set. Birmingham wasn’t the ideal setting for a film in the late ‘60s so the story was moved to the Plains.” — Derek Scudder
“‘The Godfather’. I’ll make him a biscuit he can’t refuse.” — Brandon Staggs
“‘The Martian’. It would need a name change, of course…” — Paul Cochran
“‘L.A. Story’ (Lower Alabama of course.)” — Stacy Carlisle Patel
“‘Fear and Loathing’ [in Phenix City.]” — John Pinkney
“‘New York, New York’ could be Vinegar Bend, Vinegar Bend.” — Alan Rhodie Mortensen
“Harold and Kumar’s Barbecue Adventure” — Bobby Edmondson
“Any animal horror movie: Arachnophobia, Jaws, Kingdom of the Spiders, etc.” — Harrison B. Black
“Lord of the (Onion) Rings” — Jeff Lancaster
Tom Hanks playing for the Alabama Crimson Tide in “Forrest Gump.” (Paramount)
Movies that would be better if they had been filmed in Alabama
“‘Sweet Home Alabama’! I couldn’t believe it wasn’t filmed in Alabama!” — Lydia Whitlock Barber
“‘Forrest Gump,’ no filming took place in Alabama.” — Martha Haas Hill
“‘Fried Green Tomatoes’ should be given a reboot and filmed in Alabama.” — Jennifer Bice
“‘To Kill A Mockingbird’” — Emily Wilson
Alabama
By The Numbers, Alabama A-Day 2026
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama football scrimmaged inside Bryant-Denny Stadium for its annual A-Day spring football finale on Saturday. The Crimson Tide spent two hours with the offense and defense fighting for dominance in the April sun.
The afternoon wasn’t exactly a game, but looked more like real football than the 2025 A-Day and therefore gave fans and pundits quality content to evaluate.
“I thought the guys competed again,” Kalen DeBoer said. “It’s a unique situation with our practices, two of them still being next week, so we’re not done yet. Get back to work Tuesday and Thursday, still got a lot of opportunities to get better, a lot of situational that we can get to. But it was a good back and forth, much like many of the other scrimmages; you can see how we orchestrate it with the ball where we spot it. There’s some advantages the offense gets towards the end. We’ve got to get that red zone work in, but there’s a lot of things to learn, a lot of situational stuff that we can get better at.”
Disclaimer: These statistics were taken by hand and therefore not official
Passing
- Keelon Russell: 21-33, 242 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT
- Austin Mack: 6-12, 101 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
- Jett Thomalla: 4-5, 44 yards
- Tayden-Evan Kaawaa: 4-5, 37 yards
Rushing
- Kevin Riley: 10 carries, 12 yards
- Daniel Hill: 10 carries, 31 yards
- AK Dear: 4 carries, 2 yards
- Trae’Shawn Brown: 6 carries, 19 yards
- Khalifa Keith: 1 carry
Receiving
- Derek Meadows: 9 Targets, 5 receptions, 69 yards, 1 TD
- Cederian Morgan: 3 targets, 3 receptions, 76 yards, 1 TD
- Ryan Williams: 3 targets, 3 receptions 60 yards
- Trae’Shawn Brown: 6 targets, 5 receptions, 50 yards
- Lotzeir Brooks: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 15 yards, 2 TDs
- Marshall Pritchett: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 8 yards, 1 TD
- Tyler Henderson: 3 targets, 3 receptions, 38 yards
- Rico Scott: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 30 yards
- Jay Lindsey: 2 targets, 1 reception, 5 yards
- AK Dear: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 16 yards
- Kevin Riley: 1 target, 1 reception, 5 yards
- Kaleb Edwards: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 27 yards
- Maurice Mathis Jr.: 1 target, 1 reception, 5 yards
- Mack Sutter: 1 target, 1 reception, 10 yards
- Daniel Hill: 1 target, 1 reception, 10 yards
- Noah Rogers: 2 targets
- Josh Ford: 1 target
Defense
- Ivan Taylor: 6 tackles
- Luke Metz: 4 tackles, sack, 2 TFL
- Red Morgan: 4 tackles, 1 PBU
- Caleb Woodson: 4 tackles
- Justin Hill: 4 tackles, 2 TFL
- Carmelo O’Neal: 4 tackles
- Cayden Jones: 3 tackles
- Jorden Edmunds: 3 tackles, 2 PBU
- Keon Sabb: 3 tackles
- Dijon Lee: 3 tackles, 1 INT
- Zavier Mincey: 3 tackles
- Duke Johnson: 3 tackles, 1 TFL
- Jireh Edwards: 2 tackles, 1 PBU
- Kendrick Bingley-Jones: 2 tackles, 2 TFL
- Mahri Johnson: 2 tackles, sack
- Abduall Sanders: 2 tackles
- Terrence Green: 2 tackles, 1 PBU
- Brody McCutcheon: 2 tackles, sack
- Jake Ivie: 2 tackles
- Yhonzae Pierre: 1 tackle
- Devan Thompkins: 1 tackle
- Xavier Griffin: 1 tackle
- Dre Kirkpatrick Jr.: 1 tackle, 1 INT
- Walter Sansing: 1 tackle
- Zay Hall: 1 tackle
- Jamarion Matthews: 1 tackle
- Grant Johnson: 1 tackle
- Griffin Hanson: 1 tackle
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Alabama
Alabama’s Willy Wilcox returns to Masters in new role after overcoming addiction
The story of Willy Wilcox begins with his mom. Kim Wilcox won over 50 tournaments as a junior golfer, was a four-year letter winner at Auburn, and finished runner-up in the 1988 Alabama State Women’s Amateur Championship. She had aspirations of joining the LPGA Tour, but life intervened. In the late 1980s, she had Willy, and by 1991, she became the club manager and golf pro at the now-defunct Pine Harbor Golf and Racquet Club in Pell City, Alabama.
Alabama
Prattville 19 year old creates Alabama Children’s Theatre
PRATTVILLE, Ala. (WSFA) – Maggie Kervin has a passion for the theater. She started as a little girl and loved it ever since.
“I went to Prattville Christian Academy and got my start in theater there,” said Kervin.
After graduating from high school, she got a job, but noticed something was missing in her community. So, she started the Alabama Children’s Theatre. Keep in mind she’s just 19 years old.
“There’s just not a lot of opportunities for kids in theater. I really wanted to provide that opportunity.”
Two years ago, she had $50 in her pocket and a dream. Now things are picking up steam and she’s enjoying the ride. This is for kids between the ages of five and 18. Right now, they’re working on Annie Jr.
“We’ve had so many kids why are shy and timid the first time they are one stage. When it’s their third or fourth time, they are very different.”
It’s different for her too. She’s used to being the one up on stage. Now she’s behind the computer, with them for every word, in every song.
“I didn’t think I’d ever be in the position of running my own theater.”
The reward for Maggie, getting to see her always improving stars, continue to shine.
“It’s just so exciting to see them put the hard work into something and watch it blossom. They are so excited and so dedicated.”
You can check out Annie Jr. this month. The shows are at the Pine Level Community Center.
She’s hoping you come see them for yourself, at the Pine Level Community Center. Here’s a link to show times and ticket prices for the end of the month. Her next goal is to find a facility of their own one day. Visit the Facebook page if you’d like to help make that happen.
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Copyright 2026 WSFA. All rights reserved.
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