Tampa Bay rides a dolphin's tail

Think back to the days when “Cocoon” was filmed in Pinellas County a quarter-century ago and you can recall what a great setting the Tampa Bay area was for big-budget movies. It could happen again this fall, thanks to a special dolphin.

Principal photography is set to begin this week on “Dolphin Tale,” a feature film by Warner Bros. and Alcon Entertainment based on the story of Winter, who received a prosthetic tail at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. The dolphin's story received worldwide attention, spawning a children's book and documentary.

Film crews will spend several weeks working on the new movie, which Alcon expects to be as big a hit as its last two productions, “The Book of Eli” and “The Blind Side.” Besides Winter's local presence, a new $242 million tax credit package for film production approved this year by the Florida Legislature helped land the project.