Forrest Gump and the bench in Savannah

14 November 2026 · 3 min read

Forrest Gump opened in theaters in the United States and Canada on 6 July 1994. Paramount had premiered it in Los Angeles on 23 June. Robert Zemeckis directed, and Eric Roth adapted Winston Groom's 1986 novel. Tom Hanks played Forrest, with Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson, and Sally Field. It runs 142 minutes and was made for about $55 million.

Filming ran from August to December 1993, much of it in South Carolina. The scenes that hold the story together were shot in Savannah. Forrest sits at a bus stop on the north side of Chippewa Square and tells his life to whoever takes the next seat, with the James Oglethorpe Monument behind him.

The square was laid out in 1815 and named for the Battle of Chippawa. The monument at its center was unveiled in 1910: a bronze by Daniel Chester French, with architecture by Henry Bacon. Oglethorpe faces south, sword drawn. From the north side of the square, the camera sees his back. That is the view in the film.

The photograph below was taken on 10 June 2017. The sign reads Chippewa Square. A planted bed runs along the street wall, and the monument stands under the oaks, seen from behind. There is no bench at the curb, and there was not a city bench there in 1993 either. The square's own seats are in the interior. The one in the movie was a fiberglass prop, and the crew took it when they left. People still come hoping to sit where Hanks sat. The city has not put a bench back on that edge.

A black sign reading Chippewa Square stands in a bed of green leaves and purple flowers, in front of a low pale wall. Beyond the wall, a bronze statue on a stone pedestal is seen from behind, under oak trees hung with Spanish moss. — The north side of Chippewa Square on 10 June 2017, with the square's sign at the street and the Oglethorpe monument beyond, seen from behind. Photograph by Michael Rivera, CC BY-SA 4.0, source page.

Photographed on 18 July 2012, the statue below still faces south. The movie's bench stood on the far side of him, at the street, only for the Savannah filming that fall.

A bronze statue of a man in an eighteenth-century coat and a tricorn hat, photographed from below against oak leaves and a bright sky. His right hand holds a sword pointed downward, and he stands on a carved stone pedestal. — The statue of James Oglethorpe in Chippewa Square, photographed on 18 July 2012. Daniel Chester French made the figure, unveiled in 1910. Photograph by Billy Hathorn, CC BY-SA 3.0, source page.

Savannah's bench is not the one from the film. A label with the city's copy calls it one of several duplicates, cast from the same mold as the filming benches, with concrete legs, and a gift from Paramount Pictures. A Savannah guide to the production says the longer bench that sat in Chippewa Square stayed on the Paramount lot in Los Angeles, and that the city's copy was unveiled in June 1995 at the Savannah History Museum. The museum is in that railway complex, at 303 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and the Savannah Visitor Center occupies the old passenger terminal. The facade below was photographed on 31 October 2025. The bench is indoors, and it is not out in the square.

A two-story red-brick building with a triangular pediment, tall arched windows, and a sign over the doors reading Savannah Visitor Center, on a sunny street under a clear blue sky. — The Savannah Visitor Center at 303 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, photographed on 31 October 2025. The Savannah History Museum, on this site, exhibits a replica of the film's bench. The bench is not in the picture. Photograph by Myotus, CC BY 4.0, source page.

The film was already one of the biggest of 1994. It opened on a Wednesday in 1,332 theaters, widened to 1,595 on Friday, and grossed $24,450,602 over the weekend. After a reissue on 17 February 1995, receipts in the United States and Canada came to about $330 million. Worldwide it made about $678 million, second for the year to The Lion King.

On 27 March 1995, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, the 67th Academy Awards gave the film six Oscars from thirteen nominations. Best Picture went to producers Wendy Finerman, Steve Tisch, and Steve Starkey. Zemeckis won Best Director. Hanks won Best Actor, a year after Philadelphia. It also won for adapted screenplay, film editing, and visual effects.

Chippewa Square is still oaks and a founder facing south. The bench that made it famous was a prop, and it left with the movie. On the north side, what remains is the sign, the flower bed, and the walk people take when they want to see where Forrest sat.