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The world's most inspiring cities, one by one — always connected with your data eSIM.

Montmartre and the Café des Deux Moulins: «Amélie» (2001) was filmed here, turning the café into a pilgrimage spot. Woody Allen's «Midnight in Paris» keeps the movie-city myth alive.

Bertrand Tavernier set his camera in Vieux-Lyon for « The Clockmaker of St. Paul » (1974), with Philippe Noiret as a watchmaker whose son turns to crime. The cobbled lanes of the Saint-Jean quarter and the banks of the Saône frame this melancholy debut by the Lyon-born director.

Luc Besson turned the Promenade des Anglais into the playground of « The Transporter » (2002), where Jason Statham weaves through Nice's seafront traffic. More recently, the series « Été 36 » (2026) recreated 1930s Nice along the Promenade and in front of the Hotel Negresco.

In Oscar-winning “The French Connection” (1971), the detective tracks the smugglers as far as the Chateau d'If and the alleys of Le Panier.

Place de la Bourse and its water mirror set the scene for « Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again » (2018), where Lily James plays a young Donna in the cobbled centre. Bordeaux's classical architecture lends its golden façades to a sequence brimming with sunshine and music.

Guy Ritchie opened « Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows » (2011) on a spectacular shot of Strasbourg Cathedral, just before an explosion obscures it. Robert Downey Jr. also filmed on Place Kléber and in La Petite France, whose half-timbered houses serve as a backdrop.

From «Notting Hill» (1999) on Portobello Road to «Harry Potter» at King's Cross (platform 9¾) and Leadenhall Market as Diagon Alley, few cities are this cinematic.

In 1996, “Trainspotting” opens with Renton sprinting down Princes Street after a shoplifting dash.

The series Peaky Blinders (2013-2022) filmed several scenes in Manchester, notably at Castlefield Urban Heritage Park and along the Rochdale Canal, whose brick bridges and Victorian viaducts stood in for 1920s Birmingham. The Dale Street locks also served as a backdrop.

The film The Batman (2022) turned the Georgian quarter around the Anglican Cathedral and Rodney Street into the streets of Gotham, making use of the listed façades. The imposing Royal Liver Building and St George's Hall have made Liverpool a much sought-after film location.

The film World War Z (2013) starring Brad Pitt turned George Square and the Georgian streets of central Glasgow into a Philadelphia ravaged by the apocalypse, the city's grid architecture lending itself to American settings. Glasgow has since doubled for many North American cities on screen.

In 1983, “Educating Rita” with Michael Caine used Trinity College as its university, down to the student-society rooms.

The film The Young Offenders (2016), a comedy that became a cult hit in Ireland, was shot in the streets of Cork, including its steep lanes and market. Its success spawned a BBC series, also rooted in the city and its inimitable accent.

The series « Jack Taylor », adapted from Ken Bruen's novels and shot from 2010, makes Galway its permanent backdrop. You'll spot Eyre Square, the Spanish Arch, the cathedral and the Crane Bar as the world-weary detective roams the cobbled lanes under Atlantic rain.

James Bond crosses the Magere Brug (Skinny Bridge) over the Amstel in “Diamonds Are Forever” (1971).

In « Who Am I? » (1998), Jackie Chan slides down the dizzying face of the Willemswerf building, careening along the slope of the Rotterdam skyscraper in a now-iconic stunt. The city and its bold architecture serve as a spectacular playground.

In the series “Secret Army” (1977-1979), a building on the Grand-Place doubled as Le Candide cafe, the escape network's headquarters.

« In Bruges » (2008) turns the city into a character in its own right: the Markt belfry, the Dijver canal, the Rozenhoedkaai quay and the Relais Bourgondisch Cruyce hotel pace the two hitmen's wanderings. A darkly hilarious love letter to the medieval city.

The Netflix series « Rough Diamonds » (2023) dives into Antwerp's diamond district, following an ultra-orthodox Jewish family. You'll recognise Antwerp-Central station, the diamond quarter around Pelikaanstraat, the Cathedral of Our Lady and the Het Steen castle on the Scheldt.

Lola sprints across the Oberbaumbrücke bridge in Tom Tykwer's “Run Lola Run” (1998).

The Nymphenburg and Residenz palaces serve as backdrops in “The Great Escape” (1963).

Fatih Akin's The Golden Glove (2019) dives into 1970s St. Pauli around serial killer Fritz Honka. Exterior scenes were shot at the real Reeperbahn and Zeißstraße, while the bar and apartment interiors were rebuilt one-to-one inside the port's Überseezentrum.

The Beggar from Cologne Cathedral (Der Bettler vom Kölner Dom, 1927), a silent film by Rolf Randolf, is set during Carnival around the cathedral square, where an inspector hunts jewel thieves disguised as beggars. The shoot blended real location footage in the city with studio scenes.

The cult German series A Case for Two (Ein Fall für zwei, from 1981, ZDF) made the Frankfurt skyline its visual signature. The heroes' office was filmed in a real building on Walter-Kolb-Straße, and shooting took place mainly on location in the city.

Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) made Dresden a prime backdrop: the baroque Zwinger palace serves as the Kunstmuseum where the character Kovacs is tailed by Jopling. The interiors of Mendl's bakery were filmed at Pfunds Molkerei, a historic dairy on Bautzner Straße.

The iconic scene of “The Third Man” (1949) unfolds in a cabin of the Prater's giant Ferris wheel.

It is in the Mirabell Gardens that Maria and the von Trapp children sing « Do-Re-Mi », hopping up the steps in The Sound of Music (1965). The stairs on the north side are nicknamed the « Do-Re-Mi steps » and remain one of the most popular photo spots in town.

Innsbruck hosted the Winter Olympics in 1964 and 1976, and its Bergisel ski jump remains an icon of ski-jumping imagery. The current structure, opened in 2002, is the work of architect Zaha Hadid.

Since Frozen was released in 2013, Hallstatt has become a pilgrimage: the village has welcomed more than a million extra visitors convinced they recognise Arendelle. The film's creators, however, said they drew on Norway and Canada, and Disney has never confirmed the link.

In “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (2011), Lisbeth Salander empties Wennerstrom's accounts at Zurich's plush Dolder Grand hotel.

Kieslowski shot “Three Colours: Red” (1994) on Place du Bourg-de-Four, where the retired judge's path crosses young Valentine's.

The Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge) framed by Mount Pilatus forms a fairy-tale backdrop beloved by filmmakers, especially Bollywood, where the bridge appears in films such as Biwi No. 1 (1999). Mount Pilatus has also served as a setting for Indian productions of the 1990s.

The nearby village of Iseltwald, on Lake Brienz, became a pilgrimage site thanks to the Korean series « Crash Landing on You » (2019-2020), whose famous piano-on-the-pier scene was filmed there. Higher up, the Schilthorn and its revolving Piz Gloria restaurant served as the villain's lair in the James Bond film « On Her Majesty's Secret Service » (1969).

Anita Ekberg in the Trevi Fountain: Fellini's «La Dolce Vita» (1960) sealed Rome's legend, as did «Roman Holiday» at the Mouth of Truth. Every square here is a film set.

In “Casino Royale” (2006), James Bond sails the Grand Canal as a palazzo collapses into the water near the Rialto.

In “House of Gucci” (2021), the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II stages Maurizio and Patrizia's first date and the film's climax.

In 1985, James Ivory had Piazza della Signoria cleared to shoot “A Room with a View” with Helena Bonham Carter.

The series « Gomorrah » (2014-2021) was filmed in the Vele di Scampia, the huge sail-shaped housing blocks north of Naples that became the show's global symbol. Season one used their maze of walkways and stairwells as its backdrop. The Vela Celeste was demolished in 2024.

« Lavorare con lentezza » (2004) by Guido Chiesa retraces the story of Radio Alice, Bologna's free radio station of 1976-77, filming the streets and squares of the historic centre beneath its famous porticoes. The film revives the city's student ferment, capturing the atmosphere of its arcades and cafés.

« The Italian Job » (1969), the cult heist with Michael Caine, was filmed in the streets of Turin, sending its red, white and blue Mini Coopers tearing across the city. The famous chase races past the Mole Antonelliana and up the rooftop test track of the former Fiat Lingotto factory.

« Romeo and Juliet » (1968) by Franco Zeffirelli popularised Verona on screen, and the Casa di Giulietta on Via Cappello became its pilgrimage site. The irony: the famous balcony was only added to the façade in the 1930s, inspired by the film craze, on a medieval house with no real link to any Juliet.

Museo Chicote bar on Gran Vía: Penélope Cruz drowns a secret in gin and tonics in Almodóvar's “Broken Embraces” (2009).

Woody Allen's «Vicky Cristina Barcelona» (2008) filmed the city from Park Güell to the Gothic Quarter's alleys, making the world want to wander here.

Plaza de España, its bridges and canal stood in for the planet Naboo as Anakin and Padmé arrive in “Star Wars, Episode II” (2002).

The City of Arts and Sciences, Santiago Calatrava's futuristic complex, became Coruscant in season 2 of Andor (2025). Its white curves and the Hemisfèric also stood in for the sets of Tomorrowland (2015) and season 3 of Westworld (2020). Hard to believe it all rises from the drained former bed of the Turia river.

The hit Korean series Memories of the Alhambra (2018), starring Hyun Bin and Park Shin-hye, was filmed in the streets of Granada and around the Alhambra, which serves as the central backdrop to its plot blending augmented reality and fantasy. The Nasrid palace and the Generalife gardens become a life-sized video-game arena.

The opening sequence of the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough (1999), with Pierce Brosnan, plays out in front of the titanium-clad Guggenheim Museum. You glimpse the famous flower-covered Puppy; the fake Swiss bank was in fact a building opposite the museum, on the Alameda Mazarredo, along the Nervión river.

Antonio Banderas, a son of Málaga, directed and produced El camino de los ingleses (Summer Rain, 2006), filmed entirely in his home city: it wanders down Calle Granada, Calle Mármoles and the Plaza de la Merced, the very square where Pablo Picasso was born. That same square served as a set for the series Genius: Picasso (2018).

The lanes of Alfama: Wim Wenders follows his lost sound engineer through the poem-city in “Lisbon Story” (1994).

The Luís I Bridge and the Ribeira district: street kids race across it in Manoel de Oliveira's “Aniki-Bóbó” (1942).

In 2023, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3” shot its strolling scenes in the alleys of the Plaka quarter, below the Acropolis.

The Hollywood thriller « The Bricklayer » (2023), starring Aaron Eckhart, was shot across the city, notably on Aristotelous Square, around the White Tower and in the alleys of the Upper Town (Ano Poli) along the Byzantine walls. The Ladadika district and Emporiou Square also appear on screen.

The film « The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants » (2005) was partly shot in Santorini, notably in the village of Oia and at the small fishing port of Ammoudi below it. Oia's main square, in front of the Greek Orthodox church, also serves as a backdrop for the character Lena.

Kenneth Branagh's « Murder on the Orient Express » (2017) turned the Valletta Waterfront, the port's baroque former warehouses, into a bustling Middle Eastern harbour. Malta is also known as the place where « Game of Thrones » began, with King's Landing staged in nearby Mdina, the old capital.

In “Mission: Impossible” (1996), Tom Cruise races across Charles Bridge as Jim Phelps plunges into the Vltava below.

Villa Tugendhat, Mies van der Rohe's masterpiece, was the set for « The Glass Room » (Skleněný pokoj, 2019) by Julius Ševčík, adapted from Simon Mawer's novel. The crew shot for several days inside the real villa, including its iconic glass living room with onyx walls.

Steven Spielberg's « Schindler's List » (1993) was shot in the very streets of Krakow. Heroes of the Ghetto Square (plac Bohaterów Getta), now dotted with bronze chairs in memory of the deported, and the Lwowska and Józefińska streets of the Podgórze district stood in for the ghetto on screen.

Andrzej Wajda's « Wałęsa: Man of Hope » (2013), a biopic of Lech Wałęsa, was filmed on the very sites of the history, in the historic Gdańsk Shipyard and its surroundings. It was there that Wajda had already shot « Man of Iron » (1981), Palme d'Or winner at Cannes, at the height of the Solidarność movement.

The Nadodrze district, with its early-20th-century façades frozen in time, was chosen by Steven Spielberg to stand in for Cold War East Berlin in « Bridge of Spies » (2015). Kurkowa, Ptasia and Mennicza streets were dressed as 1950s Berlin for the shoot.

In “Spy” (2015), Melissa McCarthy speeds on a red scooter across Heroes' Square and past St. Stephen's Basilica.

In The Peacemaker (1997), George Clooney and Nicole Kidman chase nuclear weapons through a Vienna that was actually Bratislava: St. Martin's Cathedral and the Slovak National Theatre stand in for a Viennese shootout. The city has often doubled for Vienna, Sarajevo or New York in American productions.

The hit South Korean series Black Knight was filmed in Ljubljana, with crews shooting among the works of architect Jože Plečnik that shape the city. As early as 1965, the Italian film Madamigella di Maupin had already brought the 17th century back to life between the façades of the old town.

Orson Welles shot his adaptation of Kafka's The Trial (1962) in Zagreb, making use of the old town's Austro-Hungarian settings. The Croatian capital, long powered by the Jadran Film studios, still hosts international productions, including recent American series.

In Game of Thrones, the basements of Diocletian's Palace in Split serve as the dungeon for Daenerys's dragons from season 4, while the nearby Klis Fortress plays the city of Meereen. These very real ancient sets have since drawn fans and film crews alike.

Dubrovnik was the main backdrop for King's Landing in HBO's Game of Thrones (from 2011). Fort Lovrijenac, perched on its 37-metre cliff west of the Old Town, doubled as the Red Keep for Joffrey's court scenes and the long exchanges between Cersei and Littlefinger. Cersei's infamous Walk of Shame was filmed on the baroque steps of the Jesuit Staircase.

The colossal Palace of the Parliament, the world's second-largest administrative building, doubled as the Vatican in the horror film The Nun (Warner Bros, 2018). Several scenes were shot in its endless corridors, monumental staircases and one of its salons. The building has also hosted shoots such as War Dogs and Dying of the Light.

Sofia is an open-air studio thanks to Nu Boyana Film Studios, set at the foot of Mount Vitosha, where Expendables 2 and The Hitman's Bodyguard were shot. The complex holds full street sets able to mimic London, New York or bygone eras, making the city a favoured Hollywood double.

Belgrade is the central setting of Emir Kusturica's Underground, winner of the 1995 Palme d'Or, a wild epic of Yugoslav history filmed partly in the capital's streets. The director stages a cellar where families hide during the 1941 Nazi occupation, mixing frenzied brass-band music and historical chaos. The film remains a landmark of Balkan cinema.

The crime series “Bron/Broen” opens on the Oresund Bridge linking Copenhagen to Malmo, where a body is found exactly on the border.

At Mellqvist Kaffebar (Hornsgatan, Sodermalm), Stieg Larsson wrote: it's Mikael Blomkvist's favourite cafe in the “Millennium” saga.

The biopic « Känn ingen sorg » (2013), about Gothenburg singer Håkan Hellström, features the city's landmarks throughout: the Stora Teatern theatre, Andra Långgatan street and the bar Café Publik. The « Johan Falk » police saga, meanwhile, shot its chase scenes in the Victoriapassagen arcade and the Nordstan shopping mall.

The Netflix series « Detective Hole » (2026), adapted from Jo Nesbø's novels, made Oslo its backdrop with nearly 160 filming locations, including Restaurant Schrøder on Waldemar Thranes gate, the haunt of detective Harry Hole. The film « Inception » (2010) shot a few scenes around the Oslo Opera House.

The UNESCO-listed Hanseatic wharf of Bryggen opens the film « Matilda » with its colourful wooden façades, shot there and in Gamle Bergen. The thriller « The Snowman » (2017), adapted from Jo Nesbø, also filmed in Bergen's harbour and on Mount Ulriken.

The family film « The Snow Sister » (2024), adapted from Maja Lunde's novel, filmed in Tromsø and on the island of Kvaløya, notably using the Alfheim aquatic centre as the meeting place of its two young heroes. The region stands in for an enchanted village, nicknamed the « gateway to the Arctic ».

During the Cold War, Helsinki often stood in for Moscow on screen. In « Gorky Park » (1983), the tower of the Finnish National Museum on Mannerheimintie was topped with a giant red star raised by crane to pose as the Kremlin, while Kaisaniemi Park, near the central railway station, played the famous Gorky Park itself.

The « Crocodile » episode of the series « Black Mirror » (2017) was filmed around Reykjavik and the nearby Hvalfjörður fjord, whose icy landscapes set the tone for its bleak storyline. The Icelandic capital and its immediate surroundings regularly lend their low-angled light and colourful façades to international productions.

Several scenes of Christopher Nolan's « Tenet » (2020) were filmed in Tallinn. The spectacular opening sequence unfolds at Linnahall, the brutalist monument built for the 1980 Olympic sailing regatta, while the Kumu art museum plays the fictional Oslo freeport and the Maarjamäe Memorial frames an enigmatic conversation.

In Soviet times, Riga often doubled for the West on screen. The cobbled lane Jauniela, in the heart of the Old Town, played Baker Street in the celebrated series « The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson » (1979-1986) by Igor Maslennikov, regarded as one of the most faithful adaptations of Conan Doyle; the house at 20 Jauniela stood in for the detective's lodgings.

For the miniseries « Chernobyl » (HBO, 2019), it was Vilnius's Soviet-era district of Fabijoniškės that stood in for the ghost town of Pripyat. The show also filmed at the former Lukiškės Prison, later used as a set for « Stranger Things » (season 4, 2022).

«Skyfall» (2012) opens with a chase over the Grand Bazaar; «From Russia with Love» (1963) already filmed Hagia Sophia and the Basilica Cistern. Istanbul was born for the screen.

« Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance » (2011), starring Nicolas Cage, shot several scenes among the fairy chimneys of the Zelve Valley near Göreme and around Uçhisar. The volcanic landscapes serve as the backdrop for the film's supernatural showdown.

« Babam ve Oğlum » (My Father and My Son, 2005), one of Turkey's best-loved films, shot its countryside scenes in Seferihisar, in the Izmir region. Director Çağan Irmak captures the gentleness of Aegean village life in contrast with the turmoil of Istanbul.

« Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre » (2023), by Guy Ritchie, shot several scenes in the Antalya region, notably at the Expo exhibition centre. The coast's sunny climate has made it an increasingly sought-after backlot for international productions.

« And Then We Danced » (2019), directed by Levan Akin, was shot in the streets of the old town and inside the Georgian National Ballet in Tbilisi. The film, about a young dancer in the national ensemble, sparked protests on its Georgian release. Its steep alleys and inner courtyards of the Avlabari district are instantly recognisable.

« Calendar » (1993) by Canadian-Armenian director Atom Egoyan was genuinely shot in Armenia: a photographer travels the country to shoot its medieval churches, with the production based in Yerevan. The film explores diasporic identity and a couple drifting apart. Egoyan captures the landscapes and monasteries with rare intimacy.

« The World Is Not Enough » (1999), the Pierce Brosnan James Bond film, was shot in Baku and on the Caspian Sea in April 1999. The crew filmed at the Neft Daşları oil field (the « Oil Rocks ») and during a car chase through the Bibi-Heybat oilfields. With a plot built around oil, Azerbaijan made an ideal backdrop.

« You Are Not an Orphan » (Ты не сирота, 1962) by Shukhrat Abbasov was shot in Tashkent and shows the city before the 1966 earthquake. Based on the true story of blacksmith Shaakhmed Shamakhmudov, who adopted fifteen children of various nationalities during the Second World War, it is a classic of the Uzbekfilm studio. It preserves old districts that have since vanished.

The Japanese film To the Ends of the Earth (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 2019), starring Atsuko Maeda, was shot on location in Uzbekistan, including at Samarkand's Registan Square, which the heroine drives past. The project was commissioned to mark 25 years of Japanese-Uzbek diplomatic relations.

Sergei Eisenstein's masterpiece Ivan the Terrible (Part I, 1945) was shot in Almaty, then Alma-Ata. When the Nazi advance threatened Moscow, the Soviet film industry was evacuated and merged with the local studio to form the Central United Film Studio, which produced roughly 80% of all Soviet features here between 1941 and 1944.

Tom Cruise scaling the Burj Khalifa in «Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol» (2011) fixed Dubai in the imagination: the city where daring touches the sky.

The Liwa Desert, in the Abu Dhabi emirate, played the planet Arrakis in Denis Villeneuve's Dune (2021) and Dune: Part Two (2024): for the sequel, the crew spent nearly a month there building a film village. Another iconic scene, the car leaping between the Etihad Towers in Fast & Furious 7 (2015), was set on the Corniche.

Operation Fortune (Guy Ritchie, 2023), with Jason Statham and Hugh Grant, shot several sequences in Doha in early 2021, notably around the Museum of Islamic Art, whose courtyard appears on screen. Qatar is officially listed among the filming locations, alongside Turkey and England.

Muscat and the Omani coast have served as scenic backdrops for several productions, including Indian feature films shot along the corniche. More notably, the BBC's « Planet Earth » documentaries filmed nesting turtles on the Omani beaches near Ras Al Jinz, a few hours from the capital.

Amman stood in as a backdrop for the thriller « Zero Dark Thirty » (2012), with several scenes shot in and around the capital doubling for Pakistan and Afghanistan. Jordan has become a favoured film location, especially for the nearby landscapes of Wadi Rum.

Petra is world-famous thanks to « Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade » (1989): the facade of the Khazneh (the Treasury) serves as the entrance to the temple housing the Grail in the finale of Steven Spielberg's film. The site also appeared in « Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen » (2009).

The film « Beirut » (2018) starring Jon Hamm portrays the city in the 1980s, though it was actually shot in Morocco. By contrast, Nadine Labaki's Oscar-nominated Lebanese film « Capernaum » (2018) was genuinely filmed in Beirut's working-class neighbourhoods.

The IMAX documentary « Jerusalem » (2013), produced with National Geographic, was granted rare access to the heart of the Old City. Crews filmed the Western Wall, the Temple Mount and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, including aerial shots over areas normally closed to flights.

The comedy « You Don't Mess with the Zohan » (2008), with Adam Sandler, opens on a beach sequence shot in Tel Aviv, on the seafront opposite the Dan Hotel. The rest of the film was mostly shot in the United States and Mexico, but this first scene sets the city's beach-vacation tone.

«Lost in Translation» (2003) filmed the Park Hyatt bar and Shibuya Crossing, now the screen image of Tokyo. The megacity blends silent shrines with electric avenues.

In “Memoirs of a Geisha” (2005), young Chiyo runs beneath the thousands of vermilion torii gates of Fushimi Inari Shrine.

Ridley Scott set “Black Rain” (1989), with Michael Douglas, amid the neon of the Ebisubashi bridge in Dotonbori.

In “Parasite” (2019), the Kim family races down Changsin-dong's stepped alleys and the tunnel linking Cheongun-dong to Buam-dong.

The Sirocco rooftop at Lebua at State Tower hosts the wild finale of “The Hangover Part II” (2011).

The infinity pool and rooftop of Marina Bay Sands host the finale of “Crazy Rich Asians” (2018).

The heist film “Entrapment” (1999), with Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones, stages its dizzying finale on the skybridge linking the Petronas Towers.

In Ubud, “Eat, Pray, Love” (2010) with Julia Roberts shot the bicycle ride through the Tegallalang rice terraces.

The romcom “A Tourist's Guide to Love” (2023) films a final dash to the Hanoi Opera House, a colonial gem modelled on the Palais Garnier in Paris.

At the gardens of Humayun's Tomb, Aamir Khan plays a tour guide in “Fanaa” (2006), opposite Kajol.

Chhatrapati Shivaji station hosted the closing “Jai Ho” dance of Oscar-winning “Slumdog Millionaire” (2008).

Hitchcock shot an iconic scene of “The Man Who Knew Too Much” (1956) on Jemaa el-Fna square.

Nabil Ayouch filmed “Casablanca Beats” (2021) at Les Etoiles de Sidi Moumen, the cultural centre he founded in that working-class district.

James Bond scales the Giza necropolis in “The Spy Who Loved Me” (1977), shot at the foot of the pyramids.

«Breakfast at Tiffany's» (1961) opens at the Tiffany windows on Fifth Avenue; from «Taxi Driver» to «Spider-Man», no city is filmed more. Central Park alone has hosted hundreds of shoots.

Blade Runner's final showdown (1982) unfolds inside the Bradbury Building, an 1893 wrought-iron atrium on South Broadway downtown.

In Hitchcock's “Vertigo” (1958), Madeleine plunges into the bay at Fort Point, right beneath the Golden Gate Bridge.

In “The Dark Knight” (2008), the Joker's semi-truck flips over on LaSalle Street, in the heart of downtown Chicago.

In “Scarface” (1983), Tony Montana hunts his enemies along Ocean Drive, among the Art Deco hotels of Miami Beach.

At the Riviera, Johnny Depp plays a drug-addled reporter in “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” (1998) after Circus Circus refused to host filming.

Casa Loma, the 1914 castle, stood in for Professor Xavier's school for mutants in “X-Men” (2000).

The opening of “Spectre” (2015) stages a Day of the Dead parade across the Zócalo, a procession that didn't exist until the city later created it.

“Against All Odds” (1984) was shot near Cancún on Isla Mujeres and at the Maya ruins of Tulum and Chichén Itzá.

“City of God” (2002), a raw portrait of the carioca favela, was mostly shot in the neighboring Cidade Alta slum.

Fernando Meirelles' thriller “Blindness” (2008), starring Julianne Moore, turned downtown Sao Paulo's streets and viaducts into a city struck by an epidemic of blindness.

“The Secret in Their Eyes” (2009), Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film, stages its wildest scene: a breathless chase through the stands of Huracan club's Estadio Tomas Duco.

The rom-com “Anyone But You” (2023) shoots the Opera House, Harbour Bridge and Tamarama Beach, with the wedding scene set in Marks Park.

History's first feature film, “The Story of the Kelly Gang” (1906), was shot in Melbourne and premiered at the Athenaeum Theatre on 26 December 1906.