Remember last spring when Aaron Eckhart closed down Pike Place to shoot a movie? The film, known then as “Traveling,” is now called “Love Happens” and is due in theaters September 18th. Its trailer — which starts and ends with shots of the Space Needle — was released this month.

The Seattle Office of Film + Music worked closely together with many city departments, the Seattle Center, and the Pike Place Market during filming. Major scenes included a one-day closure of the Market and extensive work at Volunteer Park and the Seattle Center, as well as various other locations in the city. The film brought $1.2 million in revenue to the region and hired over 100 local crew.

The film’s co-writer, Seattleite Mike Thompson, said he has a pretty ambitious goal with this movie: “My objective with this movie, as my personal valentine to Seattle, is to supplant ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ forever as the iconic Seattle movie, ’cause I wanted people to see the Seattle I know, as opposed to the generic Seattle,” he said.

The romantic drama stars Aaron Eckhart playing a best-selling self-help author struggling to recover from the death of his wife. He meets a quirky florist played by Jennifer Aniston in Seattle.

Read the full blog posting by Monica Guzman in The Big Blog at Seattlepi.com.

Watch the “Love Happens” trailer.