From Wonka to Star Wars: All the 'Hollywood' movies filmed in rural England - did your hometown make the list?

6 December 2023, 22:24

By Kieran Kelly

@kellyjourno

We've all heard of Disney, Warner Brothers and Universal, the Hollywood movie studios that produce the biggest and best films in the world.

Whether its Star Wars, Marvel or the Batman, almost all of the most iconic movies will have been produced by a big Hollywood studio.

While that fact is likely to remain true for a long time, the actual filming locations of these big budget blockbusters are often outside of the United States.

In fact, the UK - partly due to the tax breaks given to films that film here - has become a bit of a hotspot for Hollywood movies, with some of the most iconic movies of our time being filmed in rural England.

Does your favourite make the list?

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

If you're a Star Wars fan, you will remember the fever pitch anticipation created by the release of The Force Awakens, the first movie from the franchise in over a decade in 2015.

It follows a new set of characters, including Rey, Finn, and Kylo Ren across the galaxy as the legacy of the original Star Wars trilogy looms large.

While the movie is set in a galaxy far, far away, it had a number of filming locations across the UK, according to VirginMedia.

This includes the Lake District in Cumbria, Gloucestershire, and Berkshire.

Can you spot your hometown in The Force Awakens?

Wonka

More recently, the new Wonka film starring Timothée Chalamet also filmed across the UK.

Some of the filming locations include:

• Bath and North East Somerset
• Oxfordshire
• Bath and North East Somerset
• Bath and North East Somerset
• Dorset

The Batman

Robert Pattison was not the first actor to take the mantle of Gotham's vigilante, Batman, in the namesake film, released in 2022.

It is a dark movie - both physically and thematically - so perhaps there is no surprise much of it was filmed in the always reliably miserable UK weather.

Some filming locations include:

• Hertfordshire
• Bedford
• Merseyside
• Greater London

Pride and Prejudice

It is not just franchise movies that have opted for UK filming locations, but Pride and Prejudice too.

The romantic drama films across Wiltshire, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire.

Who would have thought?

Guardians of the Galaxy

Right, straight back to the franchise films, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) was filmed in London and Hertfordshire.

It is not the only Marvel film to film in the UK, and in particular London, with Loki and Secret Invasion - both released on Disney+ - recently featuring scenes filmed in London.