Popular London Locations Featured in Films – A Movie-lover’s Guide

London is a gifted city that has attracted many movie creators for its culture, architecture, and modern vibe. What’s more impressive is seeing how the capital has been immortalised in movies and displayed in many magical and mystical filters to the thrilling and nail-biting scenes. From Fast & Furious 6 and Kingsman: The Secret Service, to About Time and Bridget Jones’s Diary, there have been many popular movies filmed in London over the years. Chances are you have seen well-known locations in some of the most talked about movies, such as St. Paul’s Cathedral in Mary Poppins, Charing Cross Underground Station in The Bourne Ultimatum, and the Old Royal Naval College in Thor: The Dark World. Here are just some of the top London locations that have been featured in films.

Old Royal Naval College (ORNC) in Greenwich

The ORNC in Greenwich is one of the most iconic film locations in London. The vicinity has beautiful interiors that make it perfect for royal films, wedding specials, and period dramas. According to Thor director, Alan Taylor, Greenwich provided the best location to film The Dark World’s final battle due to its controllable location with exciting visuals. Thor 3 ended up making over $644.8m at the worldwide box office. Many other successful films in the MCU have used iconic locations around the world and according to this article, Avengers: Endgame has been the highest grossing movie to date making an enormous $2,797,800,564 at the box office!  Other movies that feature the Old Royal Naval College include Cinderella, The King’s Speech, Four Weddings and a Funeral, The Queen, and The Duchess.

St. Paul’s Cathedral

When construction started on it in 1675, who knew that it would later be featured in so many great movies? When commuters and tourists travel around London, one of the greatest sights is the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral, particularly as you are crossing over the Millennium Bridge. One of the most iconic movies that it is featured in is Mary Poppins from 1964. As the musical sequence ‘Feed The Birds’ plays out on screen, audiences see St Paul’s Cathedral where a woman is seen selling seeds. Other movies featuring this location include London Has Fallen, Star Trek Into Darkness, The Madness of King George, Sherlock Holmes, and Thor: The Dark World.

Houses of Parliament

28 Days Later is one of the few movies that feature more than ten locations in London. Cillian Murphy wakes up from his coma in this post-apocalyptic zombie movie and starts to wander across multiple locations in London. His journey begins from Westminster Bridge and passes the Houses of Parliament, proceeds through the Whitehall, and up the Mall. After getting in the City of London, Murphy heads back to Tottenham Court Road, past the Statue of Eros, and later stopping at Canary Wharf station. Other popular films featuring the Houses of Parliament include Spectre, Darkest Hour, Die Another Day, Match Point, and V For Vendetta.

Charing Cross Underground Station

The London underground tubes have long been a source of inspiration for filmmakers, from indie zombie movies to Hollywood blockbuster films. The Bourne Ultimatum and Skyfall both showcased tense sequences at Charing Cross Underground Station. Even Thor: The Dark World used the station for a filming location, and the scene in question got Londoners wishing that the tube was really as speedy as three stops between Charing Cross and Greenwich! Located on the Northern line (and Bakerloo), there are many interesting facts about the Northern Line that tourists can read before their visit to the capital.

Canary Wharf

This location is famous for being easily spotted by movie lovers in multiple films, including the Star Wars spin-off Rogue One 2016 trailer. Eagle-eyed fans identified the Canary Wharf film location in one of the sequences featuring Felicity Jones. The movie did not do much work to dress the site, and it looks almost the same in real life. Popular films that have also used Canary Wharf as a filming location include 28 Days Later, Skyfall, Batman Begins, Love Actually, 28 Weeks Later, and Johnny English.

Piccadilly Circus

For tourists, commuters, and film lovers, there are many exciting things to do near Piccadilly Circus when you’re in Central London. It’s an iconic and well-known location and anyone who sees it in a film will know the scenes have been shot in London. This location has been featured in many films as an establishing shot to depict a change of location to London (usually it’s a black taxi and a red bus). Some popular movies shot on this location include Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Sense8, Mission Impossible-Rogue Nation, Bend It Like Beckham, Fast and Furious 6, and Doomsday.