Malta ancient fortifications, crystal waters and Mediterranean light have made it one of the world top film destinations
Ridley Scott's Oscar winner built part of the Colosseum inside Fort Ricasoli in Kalkara. The fort is not generally open to the public, but the exterior and the Grand Harbour views around it are easy to reach.
📍 Fort Ricasoli, KalkaraScott returned to the same fort more than twenty years later. Fields near Miżieb doubled as the road to Rome, and the Grand Harbour again stood in for the empire.
📍 Fort Ricasoli and MiżiebBrad Pitt's Homeric epic used Mdina and the vast water tank at Malta Film Studios for the sea sequences.
📍 Mdina and Malta Film StudiosMdina became King's Landing and Fort Manoel was the Sept of Baelor. Daenerys and Khal Drogo married at Dwejra on Gozo, beside the Azure Window — which collapsed into the sea in March 2017 and no longer exists. The bay itself is still worth the trip.
📍 Mdina, Fort Manoel, DwejraRidley Scott again, this time with Joaquin Phoenix. Fort Ricasoli stood in for the siege sequences.
📍 Fort Ricasoli, KalkaraThe Valletta chase sequence was shot across the capital, Mellieħa, Vittoriosa and Pembroke — the most recognisably Maltese action scene in any recent blockbuster.
📍 Valletta, Mellieħa, VittoriosaThe franchise returned to Malta Film Studios in Kalkara for the water sequences.
📍 Malta Film Studios, KalkaraKenneth Branagh's adaptation opened with the Valletta Waterfront doubling as a Middle Eastern port, with the Grand Harbour behind it.
📍 Valletta WaterfrontSpielberg used Valletta as a stand-in for several European cities, taking advantage of its baroque streets.
📍 VallettaRobert Altman built an entire village at Anchor Bay in Mellieħa. Sweethaven still stands and is open as Popeye Village — the only film set in Malta you can walk around.
📍 Anchor Bay, MellieħaJim Caviezel's Dumas adaptation used the Comino coastline and the Valletta fortifications.
📍 Comino and VallettaMichael Fassbender's videogame adaptation filmed at Fort Ricasoli, which by now has stood in for more eras than almost any location in Europe.
📍 Fort RicasoliThe Dracula sea voyage was shot almost entirely in the water tank at Malta Film Studios.
📍 Malta Film StudiosThe Blue Lagoon between Comino and Cominotto served as Caribbean waters — as it has for several productions since.
📍 Blue Lagoon, CominoThe water tanks at Kalkara are among the largest in the world and are the reason so many sea sequences are shot here — from U-571 and The Da Vinci Code to the most recent Jurassic World.
📍 KalkaraFilmed on the island only eight years after the siege it depicts, with Alec Guinness and locations still bearing genuine war damage.
📍 Valletta and the Three CitiesExplore Game of Thrones locations, Gladiator sites and Malta cinematic history with a guided film tour.
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