Wrightsville Beach is a town in New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. Wrightsville Beach is just east of Wilmington and is part of the Wilmington metropolitan area. The population was 2,473 at the 2020 census. The town consists of a 4.6-mile (7 km) long beach island, an interior island called Harbor Island. It served as a filming location of Dawson's Creek and The Summer I Turned Pretty. The movie Weekend at Bernie's was also partially filmed in Wrightsville Beach.