By Sunayana Prabhu
OCEANPORT – The rise of New Jersey as “Hollywood East,” cemented last month with Netflix’s official closing on the Fort Monmouth Mega Parcel, was celebrated Monday by top company leaders and state and local government officials. Combined with two other major studios – Lionsgate in Newark and Paramount’s planned 1888 Studios in Bayonne – New Jersey’s role as the birthplace of motion pictures is ready to be reclaimed.
“Fort Monmouth is now home,” said Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, who flew in from Los Angeles following the Golden Globes ceremony to lead the event Jan. 12 at Park Loft. He was joined by Gov. Phil Murphy, Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill, Monmouth County Commissioner Director Tom Arnone, Eatontown Mayor Anthony Talerico Jr. and Oceanport Mayor Thomas Tvrdik.
Netflix first announced plans to transform a large section of the former military base into a new production facility in 2022. The complex acquisition process concluded Dec. 5, 2025, when Netflix and the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA) closed on the purchase of the 292-plus acres.
Netflix paid $55 million for the parcel. It broke ground nearly eight months ago to begin the process of becoming Netflix Studios Fort Monmouth. The company plans to invest $1 billion to transform the property into 12 cutting-edge soundstages totaling nearly 500,000 square feet, along with additional areas dedicated to supporting film uses and a range of community amenities.
Sarandos called it the “production renaissance” in New Jersey.
“It is so fitting that the next move here in innovation is with the film industry, given that it all started in New Jersey. In fact, I’m up in Montclair, and just down the road is where Thomas Edison invented those components of the first motion picture,” Sherrill said. She noted the “incredibly rapid” growth of the film industry, “now surpassing Georgia…, which is truly amazing to me after their years of predominance,” Sherrill said.
Spurred by a solid workforce and the state’s 30% to 35% Film and Digital Media Tax Credit Program that incentivizes production companies to film in the state, Sherrill said that “in 2024 alone, the film industry set records by generating $833 billion in interstate spending, filming over 500 productions and hiring over 30,000 crew members.”
Over the past year, Netflix alone has filmed nearly 20 titles in the Garden State, including “Happy Gilmore 2,” “The Rip,” “A House of Dynamite,” “The Beast in Me,” “Office Romance,” and “The Whisper Man.” Netflix is currently filming two movies in New Jersey, including “Here Comes the Flood,” starring Denzel Washington, Robert Pattinson and Daisy Edgar-Jones. These two projects “are employing over 500 people,” Sarandos said. “These are folks in front of and behind the camera. That’s good for the industry. It’s good for the country. Of course, it’s great for New Jersey.”
Murphy, who was frequently acknowledged by other speakers for his vision for the project, noted that the Netflix team recognized New Jersey’s rich history, the “Hollywood before it was Hollywood,” he said, referring not only to inventor Thomas Edison but to Fort Lee’s role in early film. In addition, the state has a strong union presence and prime filming locations.
The state is “well on its way” to return to the forefront of the global entertainment industry, Murphy said.
The Netflix Fort Monmouth project was “far and away the most complex project we have done in our eight years in office,” he said. “But at every point along the way, it was a joy.”
Netflix Fort Monmouth now owns 292 acres of the nearly 1,100 acres that made up Fort Monmouth. The company is investing at least $900 million to build in two phases across portions of Eatontown and Oceanport.
In Phase 1A, four soundstages, a mill, a backlot, and support structures will occupy Oceanport’s McAfee parcel, with a targeted opening in 2027. Phase 1B – eight soundstages and similar buildings in Eatontown – is projected to open in 2028.
Phase 2 will include outdoor backlots and basecamps on 79 acres in Oceanport’s waterfront Gooseneck neighborhood, also known as the 400 Area, with about 30 acres designated as open space. While 47 structures will be demolished, five salvageable buildings near Riverside Avenue will be renovated for reuse.
“This development will create thousands of construction jobs and long-term careers, bringing new energy to our local economy and opportunity to families right here in Monmouth County,” Tvrdik said.
During the celebration, held near FMERA’s former offices, Talerico applauded the FMERA team’s commitment, led by executive director Kara Kopach. “One hundred yards away, a very small group of state employees stitched this all together. Netflix’s next documentary should be about that miracle,” he said.
The ribbon-cutting for the first four Netflix sound stages at Fort Monmouth is expected within 16 to 18 months. When complete, the Fort Monmouth studio will be Netflix’s second-largest after its New Mexico site.
The article originally appeared in the January 15 – 21, 2026 print edition of The Two River Times.
