X-Men: First Class (2011)

In an alternate version of U.S. history, the turning point of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis took place on Jekyll Island. That's according to X-Men: First Class, the fifth film in the series based on the Marvel Comics characters.

Set in the swinging 1960s, the prequel shows the origins of the X-Men, a team of superpowered "mutants," as a group of evil-doers, led by Kevin Bacon's scheming villain, attempt to engineer a thermonuclear war.

Shot on a Jekyll beach that was standing in for a Cuba, the finale of X-Men: First Class was probably one of the biggest and most complex sequences shot on the island since Glory. The location featured a set of the crashed "X-Jet" and several large green screens, one of which simulated a beached submarine in the finished film.

According to FX Guide magazine, the production brought in and planted more than 100 palm trees to make Jekyll's beach look more like a tropical Cuban shore. Unfortunately, just before the shoot began, the temperature dropped below freezing, causing the palm trees to turn brown or die rapidly, requiring digital color-correction.

Location: The scene was filmed in the North Dunes Park area (currently known as Oceanview Beach Park) on the east side of the island, near the intersection of Capt. Wylly Road and Beachview Drive. The movie also features a prominent scene at the Clam Creek Fishing Pier off the north tip of the island.

Trivia: As a prequel, the film recasts James McAvoy as the telepathic Professor X, previously played by Patrick Stewart, and Michael Fassbender as the vengeful Magneto, taking over for Ian McKellen.