Movies Filmed in Hungary

Black Widow (2021) - The story starts with Natasha and Jelena meeting again after many years in Budapest. Not long after their meeting, a street shooting develops in one of the most beautiful parts of the downtown, the 5th district. Locations such as the Keleti Station, Budapest’s largest train station, the Citadella on the Gellért Hill next to the Danube and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences are featured in the film’s action-packed scenes. Next to the real locations, many scenes were shot in the Korda Studios in Etyek.

Gemini Man (2019) - The producers, Jerry Bruckheimer and David Benioff, both fell in love with the city so much so that they rewrote their script, resulting in scenes previously set in Paris getting placed in the Hungarian capital. Since the capital plays itself, iconic buildings were also able to become part of the film, making Budapest instantly recognisable, which could not have happened if it had doubled as Moscow or Paris. The Vajdahunyad Castle, the Széchenyi Bath, the Buda Castle District, the Gellért Hill and the Chain Bridge are some of the iconic locations depicted in the movie.

Spy (2015) - Next to being able to double for different cities in a chameleon-like fashion, this film was a brilliant opportunity for the Hungarian capital to prove that it can shine as itself as well. The films’ most complicated chase scene was filmed in Alkotmány, Vécsey and Báthory street. The control room of the iconic industrial monument, the Kelenföld Power Plant, was the special location for the film’s showdown scene.

Red Sparrow (2018) - Although the original novel was set in Helsinki and Moscow, the movie itself was shot in Hungary due to the diversity and quality of locations it had to offer. As the movie’s producer David Ready stated, here they found a gold mine of beautiful locations with brilliant production and crew facilities. In the beginning when the heroine is trained to be a spy, she is driven to the historic castle in Dég in the Hungarian countryside. The party scene was set in the main hall of the city’s closed airport terminal. Furthermore, the ballet scene was set in the Hungarian State Opera.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) - The Cold War spy film based on John Le Carré’s novel was mainly filmed in Hungary, featuring countless iconic locations of Budapest. An interesting fact is that the novel is set in Prague, not Budapest but the director Tomas Alfredson thought that Budapest would be better for recreating the book’s atmosphere. Next to the Párizsi Udvar, the Nyugati Train Station and the streets around the Keleti Train Station, as well as one of Budapest’s most famous monuments, the Halászbástya (Fisherman’s Bastion) play central roles in the film.

Atomic Blonde (2017) - Spy movies seem to never go out of fashion. In 2015, the action packed Atomic Blonde was shot in Budapest, which doubled as Berlin, London and Paris. Budapest is still the ideal location for a story set in the 1980s, since it has neighborhoods that have hardly undergone any modernisation in the last decades, unlike other European capital cities.

Dune I-II (2021, 2024) - The franchise with one of the largest budgets at the time, except for some scenes shot in the desert in Jordan, was filmed completely in Hungary in multiple Hungarian soundstages, such as the Hungexpo and the Origo Studios. The facilities, Hungarian professionals and the beneficial tax subsidy incentivised not only the two feature films but also the Dune: Sisterhood series to shoot in Hungary.

Borderlands (2024) - The film was entirely shot at Stern Film Studio and was completed in 3 months. Regardless of the complications caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the shoot wrapped as scheduled.

The Continental: From The World of John Wick (2023) - Apart from a few scenes, the production was entirely shot in Hungary. Next to the Origo Film Studios, the Stern Studio was the main film shooting location, although quite a few abandoned buildings can be spotted in the movie, such as the “Socialist Circle Hall” and the Tőzsdepalota.

Blade Runner 2049 (2017) - In 2016, Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling spent around six months in Hungary filming Blade Runner’s second part, Blade Runner 2049. Next to the studio scenes, one can spot the Tőzsdepalota (former building of the stock exchange), near the Szabadság Square, which used to also function as the Hungarian Television’s headquarters.

The King (2019) - Due to the large number of extras required and the beneficial tax incentive, the creators of the film starring Timothée Chalamet and set in England decided to shoot the most complex scenes of the film in Hungary. The large-scale battle scenes were all shot in real Hungarian locations, such as Szilvásvárad, Páty and the 19th century Komáromi Fortress.

Midsommar (2019) - Although the film was set in Sweden, it was shot in a clearing next to the Farkashegy Airfield next in Budakeszi, which is only half an hour’s drive away from Budapest. An interesting fact about the film is that the story takes place in broad daylight so the crew needed two months to shoot the film. The team behind the film did not only choose Hungary because of its advantageous tax incentives but because they found a location that had all the natural features needed for the production.

Robin Hood (2018) - The reboot featuring Taron Egerton and Jamie Foxx was filmed in Hungary in three months. The crew filmed at locations such as the MaFilm Studios in Fót and an abandoned Soviet-era factory with a huge red hall.

The Witcher (2019) - The first season of The Witcher was not only shot in the MaFilm and Origo Film Studios in Budapest but also countless real locations as well. For example, scenes were shot in the 19th century Komárom Fortress, the Vajdahunyad Castle and the Open Air Museum of Szentendre. The crew that originally traveled here because of the castles, discovered various natural locations that they were inspired to incorporate into the series. Such locations include where the battle scene of the first episode was shot in Csákberény and the Szelim Cave that doubled as the dragon cave.

FBI: International (2021-) - In the 2021 production of CBS, Budapest provided the location for the FBI’s international headquarters. However, the action-packed scenes were not only filmed in the capital, but also in Szeged and Székesfehérvár, cities located in the Southern part of the country. The series is one of the productions featuring the most iconic locations including the newly renovated Chain Bridge, the Kelenföld Power Plant and possibly the city’s most emblematic structure, The  Fisherman's Bastion.

The Last Kingdom (2015-2022) - “I think what Hungary brings to us is this sense of another world.” This is how Nigel Marchal, the executive producer of the series described their shoot in Hungary. The five season long series was nearly entirely shot in Hungary, for which they built an entire village in Etyek where the crew spent most of their time. Next to constructed shooting locations, real locations of historic significance also appear such as Dobogókő, a town 700 meters high up in the Visegád Mountains.

Raabta (2017) - After three months of searching, Dinesh Vijan and Bhushan Kumar finally found their perfect shooting location: Budapest. The Indian film crew filmed for two months in Budapest, starring as itself. As the director Dinesh Vijan said: “I loved this city the first time I saw it and even more after shooting there”. Budapest’s amazing river, the Danube can be spotted multiple times in the romantic drama accompanied by its bridges, such as the Chain Bridge and the Liberty Bridge.

The Heaven None Missed 2 (2017) - The film considered to be one of Indonesia’s best in 2017 was filmed in Budapest and in Szentendre, a town located a few kilometers from the capital. The film features countless significant sights such as the Heroes’ Square, the Fővám Square and the Városliget. The first shooting location of the two-week shoot was the Liberty Bridge. The co-producer, Hendrayadi, said that “it is an iconic structure so it had to be our first location”.

Alien: Romulus (2024) - The Sci-Fi Horror film set to premiere in 2024 was entirely shot in the Origo Studios. So far, due to the high level of confidentiality, not much can be known about the film, mostly just that it will be in cinemas from August 2024.

The Martian (2015) - Most of the movie’s scenes were shot in Korda Studios, but multiple exterior locations can also be found in the film, such as futuristic looking cultural centers; the Palace of the Arts, the Bálna and Budapest’s biggest market and exhibition space, the Hungexpo. The film shoot lasted 70 days, out of which 50 was spent in the studio. Work was going on in all of the studio’s soundstages. They built a Mars set in the 6000m2 big Superstage for which they used 4000 tonnes of red sand and made a huge windstorm with an enormous wind machine.

Mars (2016-2017) - The filming started in May 2016, in the Planetarium at the Gödöllői University, the Bálna and the Budaörsi Airport, while the spaceship scenes were shot in the sets built in the Origo Studios. The Mars base was created after long and in-depth planning, so that it would be as realistic as possible. The constructed base had nearly everything that a real spaceship has; a diner, a changing room, corridors, a bedroom and a cockpit.