10 Movies You Didn't Know Were Filmed in Montreal

Image via Songquan Deng/Shutterstock

In the trilogy's most recent success, which boasted a production budget of $200 million, shots were initially taken at Mel's Cité du Cinema in Montreal. Despite the sci-fi/fantasy vibe of the film, more conventional backgrounds such as Olympic Stadium (hence the very familiar doughnut-shaped roof, or otherwise the main setting of the 1976 Summer Olympics), Montreal City Hall and McGill University were also utilized with ambiguity to make the filming atmosphere appear more futuristic yet mysterious. While an aerial plate unit was delivered to film in Washington, more shooting continued in Montreal from Fall 2013 to Winter 2014. Who would've thought Montreal was home to the second priciest film produced by 20th Century Fox after Avatar (2009)? And who would've guessed Jennifer Lawrence, Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry became apart of it? 

In a movie with Channing Tatum (lucky ladies and lads!) who plays a Capitol police officer rescuing his daughter and the president (Jamie Foxx, of course) from paramilitary invaders during a tour of the White House, you probably wouldn't visualize the filming field to be anywhere other than Washington. While part of the filming actually did occur in Washington, the summer of 2012 introduced residual work to be done at La Cité Du Cinéma in Montreal, Quebec. Apparently, the most significant battle with shooting White House Down was to convince the Parks Department to permit the filming of some stunt scenes in Parc Maisonneuve - one of the biggest parks in Montreal. The purpose of that production was to construct the President’s basketball court, which you could see possesses an abundance of concrete in the park, in addition to components of the White House gardens. Shots filmed there also incorporated vehicle chases on the grass!

One of the greatest love stories on the big screen and also the catalyst for the on-screen as well as off-screen rendezvous (see what I did there?) between Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, The Notebook may have been created almost completely in South Carolina. But if you look closely at the scene where Noah and his best friend venture off to war, the snowy site is actually outside Montreal. The Notebook selected Montreal, residence to the language of love (aka French), to establish miscellaneous captures; along with frames in South Carolina and California. How's that for Southern hospitality?

Portraying another socially inept character, The 40-Year-Old Virgin's Steve Carrell holds the power to suppress a terrorist attack from a Russian spy agency with his partner-in-crime; a role filled by no other than the lovely Anne Hathaway. What an honour to witness our very own Montreal depicting Russia, with our Olympic Stadium and McGill University as well as other areas of Montreal disguised specifically as contemporary Russia for the film respectively. The cast and crew of Get Smart also shot at Le Windsor on Peel St., for what was intended to represent a spectacular Russian ballroom. 

If we needed any more Hollywood heavyweights taking over the camera roll within our parametres (yes we do!), it's good to know that George Clooney stepped up to the plate. Or if you prefer the infectious Uma Thurman playing Poison Ivy and Alicia Silverstone chanelling Batman Clooney's bad blonde Batgirl, you've come to the right place. Batman & Robin attempt to maintain the sizzle in their relationship, while warming up Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy from ever freezing Gotham City. This method renders effective in theory, if a couple of the filming locations were Montreal and Ottawa - which are always freezing?

Life of Pi, a tale about a young man who overcomes a tragedy at sea, discovers a bond with another survivor: a Bengal tiger. As exotic as one would expect the beauty of the tropics to be; photography was finished in Taiwan, production transferred back to India and ended in Montreal. One scene showcases a bench, at the basin diagonally adjacent to the Montreal Science Center near King Edward Pier. If you shift your gaze to the part where they're strolling on the tiny over-pass close to the intersection of Notre Dame & Berri streets, this is where the older Pi narrates his story.

In a film where Will Ferrell unleashes into a hilarious sex-addicted best men's figure skater, he and another rival Olympic ice skater - confiscated of their gold medals and permanently prohibited from the men's single competition - discover a means that will help them still qualify: to come in as the first male-male pair in skating. The stadium for the outside shoots was the authentic Montreal Olympic Stadium, once again. More particularly, the outdoor chase scenes were also filmed on-location in Montréal. The outdoor skating scenes were directed at the Montreal Olympic Stadium, and the movie’s most notorious chase scene was shot in Montreal’s Olympic Village. The building chosen for the movie's hypothetical athlete housing in Montréal was the Habitat 67, which was originally designed for Expo 67. 

What do you get when you put Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks and Amy Adams in a corner? A movie about a FBI agent finding a young con artist who was able to simultaneously masquerade as an airline pilot, doctor and assistant attorney general; raking in over $2.5 million in fraudulent checks in 26 countries. But more importantly, that movie was filmed in 147 different locations in only 52 days. Other locations consist of (but aren't limited to): Burbank, Downey, New York, LA/Ontario International Airport (which doubled for Miami International Airport), Quebec City and Montreal. Quebec City was selected for its European exuberance and French-like personality. Place Royale, within Old Quebec, symbolizes Montrichard; the church in the background of the arrest scene is Notre-Dame-des-Victoires. Filming was completed in Montreal; one spot being Lionel-Groulx Metro Station. 

Tom Hanks may coin the role of an eastern immigrant stranded in JFK airport, but majority of outside shots and those displaying literal aircraft were filmed at Montréal–Mirabel International Airport. Extra interior shots were also conducted there; including the mezzanine preceding the immigration desks and the baggage carousels behind them, the jetways demonstrating Aéroports de Montréal signs, and multiple Air Transat planes in the background. 

It looks like our fellow Friend Matthew Perry harnessed the opportunity to indulge in not only our city's downtown core, but our historical architecture as well as our tourist attractions and French culture. All because not only is the movie shot in those surrounding areas; but the film storyline is set there as well. Matthew Perry plays Nick, a dentist in Canada (aka Montreal), who is persuaded by his wife to visit Chicago to warn the mob boss who wants his new neighbour deceased. I say Canada, because while the film is set in Montreal, the movie is shot in surrounding areas of Montreal (including the Notre Dame Cathedral, Montréal, Québec, Canada) and Niagara Falls.