movie locations
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the summer, which means more time for shooting.” Einar Tómasson, Film Commissioner at Film in Iceland and Promote Iceland
Malta
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt began fi lming for By the Sea on Malta’s Gozo island this August, with the couple even honeymooning there. The movie is written and directed by Angelina and is the couple’s fi rst project since Mr. & Mrs. Smith. It documents the challenge a long-time married couple face as they holiday in Europe in the 1970s. Malta’s little sister, Gozo, is known for its beaches, ancient monuments and diving. Most of the movie is fi lmed at Kantra Beach, where the Hotel Ta’ Cenc & Spa has a beach club, but other locations used include the Azure Window, a 100-metre high natural arch hollowed out by thousands of years of wind and waves, and the medieval Citadella, which sits on the hilltop at the heart of the island’s capital Victoria, with sweeping views. Other fi lms shot in the islands include The Count
of Monte Cristo (Comino Island’s old knights prison St Mary’s Tower and Malta’s former capital Mdina), Troy and Gladiator (both using Malta’s Fort Ricasoli).
Book it: A seven-night stay at the fi ve-star Kempinski Hotel San Lawrenz starts from just £599pp, based on two people sharing a Superior Room on a B&B basis. The price is based on a trip departing February 20, 2015 from Stansted with Ryanair, with private transfers.
belleair.co.uk
New Orleans With 25 major feature fi lms shot in the city in 2014 it’s no wonder New Orleans is dubbed the ‘Hollywood of the South’. Most recent is comedy crime caper 22 Jump Street, but tours visit the Garden, Warehouse and Central Business District, the French Quarter, The Treme, and the famed spooky St. Louis Cemetery, covering a range of fi lms from classics like A Streetcar Named Desire and Easy Rider to more recent releases like Interview with The Vampire starring Tom Cruise, Ray starring Jamie Foxx, JFK with Kevin Costner and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button starring Brad Pitt.
Did you know? New Orleans is also a fi lm set for countless television series, with the hits T T
rue Blood among the best known in the UK.
New Zealand The third and fi nal Hobbit fi lm is released this December, marking an end to Peter Jackson’s phenomenally successful franchise but hopefully not the end of Tourism New Zealand’s Middle Earth-inspired appeal. Classic Hobbit locations include the looming cliffs, unusual limestone rock formations and prehistoric forest at Mangaotaki Rocks in Piopio, which provided the setting for Trollshaws Forest and Staddles Farm; the Earnslaw Burn glacier near Queenstown, where Bilbo and The Company are fi lmed next to cascading waterfalls; the Pelorus River where dwarves fl oated in barrels but visitors can take a kayak tour; and Fjordland National Park where The Company fl ees the mountains on the backs of eagles.
Hot tip: Make sure you book in a tour of the Hobbiton Movie Set. Visitors can see Hobbit holes, The Green Dragon Inn, The Mill, the double arched bridge and lots more.
Oregon Released this December and hotly tipped for an Oscar is travelogue epic Wild, which tells the true story of Cheryl Strayed, who embarked on a 1,100-mile trek across the US after the death of her mother. Strayed’s memoir of her journey was published in 2012 and caught the attention of Reese Witherspoon who stars in the movie version. The story is about how the backpacker novice hiked the Pacifi c Crest Trail through the states of California, Oregon and Washington. Most of the fi lm was shot in Oregon, using famous locations like Bend, Crater Lake National Park and Portland. Expect epic landscapes in this emotional adventure which is sure to inspire more travel to the Pacifi c Northwest.
Did you know? The Pacifi c Crest Trail runs from the USA-Mexico border to the USA-Canada border across the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountains.
sellingtravel.co.uk
rue Detective and
Puerto Rico Johnny Depp will be returning to Puerto Rico for Pirates of the Caribbean 5 next year, after the fourth fi lm in the franchise saw Captain Jack leave Angelica (Penelope Cruz) stranded on Palominito, a small white sand cay off Puerto Rico’s eastern tip. The American/ Caribbean isle of Puerto Rico appeals to tourists and fi lmmakers for similar reasons: its modern capital with a colonial heart, white-sand beaches and lush mountainous interior. Perhaps the best advertisement for the island was 2011 fi lm The Rum Diary, starring Johnny Depp. Based on the novel by Hunter S. Thompson, the fi lm follows the life of a failed American writer who lands a job on a San Juan newspaper and discovers a hedonistic expat life of hard drinking and debauchery. Set against a romantic backdrop of crumbling San Juan, sparkling beaches and millionaire’s yachts, it’s a vivid portrayal of a glamorous, edgy island.
Did you know? One of Puerto Rico’s most iconic attractions, The Arecibo Observatory, has been used in fi lms including Contact, Species and Goldeneye. The 1,000 foot radio telescope is the world’s largest.
Taiwan Since the Taipei 101 tower was eclipsed as the world’s tallest building by Dubai’s fantastical Burj Khalifa, not much has been made of this impressive skyscraper. This year’s sci-fi hit Lucy, starring Scarlett Johansson as a drug mule accidentially dosed with an intelligence enhancing drug, however, has changed that. The fi lm footage included various sites in Taipei, as well as sea views, beaches, forests and mountains – all within a convenient 100-mile radius – according to the director Luc Besson.
Hot tip: Tell your clients to stay in the fi ve-star Regent Taipei Hotel which was used as a set in fi lm. It’s situated in the vibrant Zhong Shan district.
Top from left: Gozo’s Azure Window; a Taipei cityscape dominated by Taipei 101. Above: A view of Mount Hood from the Jonsrud view point in Oregon
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