Which movies were filmed in South Dakota?
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 South Dakota 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.
Armageddon (1998)
- Director: Michael Bay
- IMDb user rating: 6.7 (442K reviews)
- Runtime: 151 minutes
- Genres: Action, Adventure, and Sci-Fi
- Cast: Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, and Ben Affleck
Dances with Wolves (1990)
- Director: Kevin Costner
- IMDb user rating: 8.0 (282K reviews)
- Runtime: 181 minutes
- Genres: Adventure, Drama, and Western
- Cast: Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, and Graham Greene
How the West Was Won (1962)
- Director: Directors
- IMDb user rating: 7.0 (23K reviews)
- Runtime: 164 minutes
- Genres: Romance, War, and Western
- Cast: James Stewart, John Wayne, and Gregory Peck
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
National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)
- Director: Jon Turteltaub
- IMDb user rating: 6.5 (248K reviews)
- Runtime: 124 minutes
- Genres: Action, Adventure, and Mystery
- Cast: Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger, and Justin Bartha
Nebraska (2013)
- Director: Alexander Payne
- IMDb user rating: 7.7 (121K reviews)
- Runtime: 115 minutes
- Genres: Drama
- Cast: Bruce Dern, Will Forte, and June Squibb
North by Northwest (1959)
- Director: Alfred Hitchcock
- IMDb user rating: 8.3 (339K reviews)
- Runtime: 136 minutes
- Genres: Action, Adventure, and Mystery
- Cast: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, and James Mason
Starship Troopers (1997)
- Director: Paul Verhoeven
- IMDb user rating: 7.3 (310K reviews)
- Runtime: 129 minutes
- Genres: Action, Adventure, and Sci-Fi
- Cast: Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, and Dina Meyer
This story features data reporting by Karim Noorani, writing by Olivia Monahan, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 48 states.
