Every photograph in Moviz's daily location puzzle shows a real place where a real film was shot. These guides are the long version: what was filmed there, what the production changed, which parts of the film were actually built somewhere else entirely, and whether you can stand in the same spot today.
They are written to be read rather than skimmed, and they try to be honest about the gap between a location and a film — the Overlook Hotel's interiors are in Hertfordshire, Skyfall Lodge burned down in Surrey, and Corleone was too modern to play itself.
Eastern United States
A museum staircase, a condemned prison, a working firehouse, a deli open since 1888, a residential staircase in the Bronx, and a bench that was made of fibreglass.
- Where Was Rocky Filmed? — Philadelphia Museum of Art Steps, Philadelphia, USA
- Where Was The Shawshank Redemption Filmed? — Ohio State Reformatory, Mansfield, Ohio, USA
- Where Is the Ghostbusters Firehouse? — Hook & Ladder Company 8, New York, USA
- Where Was the When Harry Met Sally Deli Scene Filmed? — Katz's Delicatessen, New York, USA
- Where Was Forrest Gump's Bench Filmed? — Chippewa Square, Savannah, Georgia, USA
- Where Are the Joker Stairs? — Step Street at West 167th Street, The Bronx, New York, USA
- Where Are the Exorcist Steps? — The Exorcist Steps, Georgetown, Washington D.C., USA
- Where Was The Dark Knight Filmed? — Chicago Board of Trade Building, Chicago, USA
The American West and Hawaii
A WPA ski lodge, a free public observatory, two Victorian houses, a set that outlived the film it was built for, and a valley that has been standing in for prehistory since 1992.
- Where Was The Shining Filmed? — Timberline Lodge, Mount Hood, Oregon, USA
- Where Was La La Land Filmed? — Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles, USA
- Where Was Back to the Future Filmed? — Gamble House, Pasadena, California, USA
- Where Was Vertigo Filmed? — Fort Point, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, USA
- Where Was Mrs. Doubtfire Filmed? — 2640 Steiner Street, San Francisco, USA
- Where Was Home Alone Filmed? — 671 Lincoln Avenue, Winnetka, Illinois, USA
- Where Was Close Encounters of the Third Kind Filmed? — Devils Tower, Wyoming, USA
- Where Is the Psycho House? — Psycho House, Universal Studios Backlot, Hollywood, USA
- Where Was Jurassic Park Filmed? — Kaʻaʻawa Valley, Kualoa Ranch, Oahu, Hawaii, USA
Britain and Ireland
A concrete railway viaduct from 1901, a dead-end road through a Highland glen, and a monastery on an Atlantic rock.
- Where Was the Hogwarts Express Filmed? — Glenfinnan Viaduct, Scottish Highlands, Scotland
- Where Was Skyfall Filmed in Scotland? — Glen Etive, Scottish Highlands, Scotland
- Where Was Luke Skywalker's Island Filmed? — Skellig Michael, County Kerry, Ireland
Mediterranean Europe
Sicilian hill villages that played Corleone, a chapel on a rock above the Aegean, and a cave city Italy was once ashamed of.
- Where Was The Godfather Filmed in Sicily? — Bar Vitelli, Savoca, Sicily, Italy
- Where Was Mamma Mia! Filmed? — Agios Ioannis Chapel, Skopelos, Greece
- Where Was No Time to Die Filmed? — Sassi di Matera, Matera, Italy
Paris
A Belle Époque bridge that really does support a folding city, and a hilltop neighbourhood warmed up a few shades in the grade.
- Where Was Inception's Paris Scene Filmed? — Pont de Bir-Hakeim, Paris, France
- Where Was Amélie Filmed? — Rue Lepic, Montmartre, Paris, France
Central Europe
A derelict Jugendstil department store in the easternmost town in Germany.
- Where Was The Grand Budapest Hotel Filmed? — Görlitzer Warenhaus, Görlitz, Germany
North Africa and the Middle East
Earthen fortresses, underground houses, a rose-red tomb, and the most reliably employed desert in cinema.
- Where Was Gladiator Filmed? — Aït Benhaddou, Morocco
- Where Was Tatooine Filmed? — Hotel Sidi Driss, Matmata, Tunisia
- Where Was Dune Filmed? — Wadi Rum, Jordan
- Where Was the Indiana Jones Grail Temple Filmed? — Al-Khazneh, Petra, Jordan
Asia-Pacific
A Waikato sheep farm that got built, demolished and built again, and a lagoon that had to be closed to recover.
- Where Was Hobbiton Filmed? — Hobbiton Movie Set, Matamata, New Zealand
- Where Was The Beach Filmed? — Maya Bay, Ko Phi Phi Leh, Thailand
Play the location puzzle
If you would rather guess than read: the daily location quiz shows one photograph of a real filming location and asks which film was shot there. It is free, needs no account, and there is a new one every day. You can also browse all 12 daily games.
About the photographs
Every photograph in these guides comes from Wikimedia Commons under a Creative Commons licence or in the public domain, with the photographer, the licence and a link to the original file credited beneath the image. More on the sources is on the About page.
How these guides are written — and how to correct them
Each guide is written individually rather than from a template, and tries to separate three things that film-location writing usually blurs together: what was actually filmed at the place, what the production built or faked somewhere else, and what a visitor can realistically expect to find there today.
Locations change. Statues move, houses are sold and repainted, bays close for conservation and access rules are revised — so anything here describing opening hours, ticketing, access restrictions or the current state of a site should be checked against the operator before you travel on the strength of it.
If you find something wrong — a date, an attribution, a detail that has changed since this was written — please tell us. Corrections are genuinely welcome and are made promptly.