Which movies were filmed in Alaska?
The magic of Hollywood is that oftentimes movies aren't filmed anywhere near where they purport to be taking place. California may be home to Hollywood, but so many of your favorite films were set against backdrops far removed from the glitterati of the West Coast.
With huge studios like Warner Bros., MGM, and RKO Pictures churning out film after film during the heyday of the silver screen, California made a name for itself as the cornerstone for all things movies. As the industry has continued to shift, however, that has begun to change.
From the need for more rural settings to a director's desire to get everything as historically accurate as possible, not to mention the attractive tax incentives offered by states outside of California, crews are increasingly enticed to look elsewhere when filming. More and more, shoots take place in the most unexpected places in a quest to entertain, and sometimes, to make film history. Have you ever wondered where the Cullen house in the "Twilight" movies actually is? (The answer is Oregon.) How about the location of where the wasteland astronauts trekked in "Planet of the Apes" from 1968? (Answer: Arizona.)
With that in mind, Stacker compiled a list of movies filmed in Alaska using data from Movie Locations. Additional information about each film was collected from IMDb. Some films may have been omitted due to data dissimilarities and lack of corresponding information found on IMDb.
The Hunt for Red October (1990)
- Director: John McTiernan
- IMDb user rating: 7.5 (209K reviews)
- Runtime: 135 minutes
- Genres: Action, Adventure, and Thriller
- Cast: Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, and Scott Glenn
Insomnia (2002)
- Director: Christopher Nolan
- IMDb user rating: 7.2 (311K reviews)
- Runtime: 118 minutes
- Genres: Drama, Mystery, and Thriller
- Cast: Al Pacino, Robin Williams, and Hilary Swank
Into the Wild (2007)
- Director: Sean Penn
- IMDb user rating: 8.1 (643K reviews)
- Runtime: 148 minutes
- Genres: Adventure, Biography, and Drama
- Cast: Emile Hirsch, Vince Vaughn, and Catherine Keener
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
- Director: Nicholas Meyer
- IMDb user rating: 7.2 (79K reviews)
- Runtime: 110 minutes
- Genres: Action, Adventure, and Sci-Fi
- Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and DeForest Kelley
The Thing (1982)
- Director: John Carpenter
- IMDb user rating: 8.2 (448K reviews)
- Runtime: 109 minutes
- Genres: Horror, Mystery, and Sci-Fi
- Cast: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, and Keith David
This story features data reporting by Karim Noorani, writing by Olivia Monahan, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 48 states.