9 Movies Filmed in Vancouver That Pretended to Be Somewhere Else

Vancouver has played San Francisco, New York, Seattle, Chicago, Portland, Mumbai and North Korea. It rarely gets to play itself. Creative BC estimates film and TV productions spent $3.56 billion in B.C. in 2024, up from $2.21 billion in 2023. The industry first passed $1 billion a year back in 1999.

This guide sticks to films where reputable outlets name the real location. For each one you get what the scene was meant to be, where it was actually shot, and whether you can go stand there. Some are public plazas. One is a diner with a neon sign. One is the most-filmed site in Canada.

Opening hours, costs and transit come from official pages where they exist. Where something isn’t confirmed, it’s left out or flagged.

9. David Thompson Secondary: The Twilight Saga: New Moon and Eclipse (South Vancouver)

The first Twilight was shot in Oregon and Washington. For the sequels, production moved to the Vancouver area, and B.C. stood in for Forks, Washington. Seattle Refined reports that Forks High School was recreated at David Thompson Secondary School on East 55th Avenue for New Moon.

Eclipse is also reported to have filmed there. New Moon used it in spring 2009, and Eclipse followed that summer. Seattle Refined also says the Eclipse graduation scene was shot inside the gym at Como Lake Middle School in Coquitlam.

Both are working schools. View them from the street outside school hours only, which costs nothing. David Thompson is in South Vancouver near Gordon Park.

Don’t go onto school grounds or film students. A quick photo from the sidewalk on a weekend is the respectful way to do it.

8. Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre: X-Men: The Last Stand (Downtown Vancouver)

The third X-Men film ends with a battle on the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. SFGate reported the filmmakers did almost no real filming in the Bay Area. The movie was shot in Vancouver, and visual effects added the landmarks.

Even the bridge was partly local. A section of it was a real set built in a Vancouver parking lot. Exclaim names the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre at 1088 Burrard Street as the building Angel smashes out of before flying over what’s meant to be San Francisco Bay.

You can view the exterior any time from Burrard Street, and looking is free. It’s down Burrard Street from Burrard Station, so it fits easily into a downtown walk with Robson Square and the Fairmont.

7. Robson Square: The Interview (Downtown Vancouver)

The Interview is the Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg comedy about a plot against Kim Jong-un. It was made in B.C. Global News reports that downtown Vancouver stood in for New York. The mountains around the city doubled as China and North Korea. Robson Square was dressed as Kim’s compound.

The fake TV studio for “Skylark Tonight” was a real studio at the CBC Vancouver Broadcast Centre on Hamilton Street. Most of the interiors were shot on a soundstage at Bridge Studios in Burnaby. The dictator’s palace you remember is part public plaza, part Burnaby soundstage.

Robson Square is a public plaza (no posted hours). The gallery is free for anyone 18 and under and for Indigenous Peoples. Free First Friday nights run 4 to 8 p.m. Reserve ahead to guarantee entry, or try for a walk-in ticket. The gallery is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (to 8 p.m. Fridays) and closed Tuesdays. General admission is $29 for B.C. residents and $35 for everyone else.

Take the Canada Line to Vancouver City Centre station, a short walk away. Stand on the stepped plaza between the courts and the gallery. That open space is what the film turned into the North Korean capital.

6. Fairmont Hotel Vancouver and Gastown: Fifty Shades of Grey (Downtown, Gastown and UBC)

Fifty Shades of Grey is set in Seattle and around Portland. Global News reports it was mostly shot in and around Vancouver. The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver played Portland’s Heathman Hotel, where the elevator kiss happens.

The downtown office tower Bentall 5 was also used in the film. Christian Grey’s helicopter took off from the helipad at Global BC’s Burnaby studios. Daily Hive notes that UBC played Washington State University in Vancouver, Washington. Vancouver finally got to play a Vancouver, just the wrong one.

When the film came out, the sites promoted to tourists included Rainier Provisions, a Gastown cafe, along with Bentall 5 and the Fairmont. One Gastown scene was shot near the Gassy Jack statue. Protesters pulled that statue down in February 2022, and the city removed its pedestal that April. It isn’t there now.

The hotel lobby and Gastown’s streets are open to the public, and walking them is free. The Fairmont is near Burrard Station, and Gastown is by Waterfront Station. UBC’s campus is open, though building hours vary. The corner of Carrall and Water is still the heart of Gastown, statue or not.

5. Moncton Street: Godzilla (Steveston, Richmond)

Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla moves between Japan, Honolulu and San Francisco. Much of it was shot in the Lower Mainland. In May 2013 the Richmond News reported that Steveston was being made over as part of the San Francisco waterfront.

The crew parked burned-out cars on Moncton Street and put military vehicles in the streets. A Steveston toy shop got a new front and became the Wood Eagle Bar for the shoot. Tourism Richmond lists the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre on Moncton Street as a filming location. The production also shot inside BC Place and up on Cypress Mountain.

Steveston is a working fishing village you can visit year-round. Walking it is free, and shop hours vary. Buses connect to the village from Richmond-Brighouse Station on the Canada Line.

Walk Moncton Street, which Godzilla used. Power Rangers filmed mostly on the same street, between First and Third avenues, so one walk covers both.

4. Gulf of Georgia Cannery and Moncton Street: Power Rangers (Steveston, Richmond)

The 2017 Power Rangers reboot turned Steveston into Angel Grove, the Rangers’ fictional California hometown. 604 Now reported that most of the shoot was on Moncton Street between First and Third avenues, with more on Bayview Street. Tourism Richmond says the Gulf of Georgia Cannery National Historic Site was one of the backdrops.

The cannery is the reason to stay longer. It’s a Parks Canada site with a museum about the West Coast fishing industry, set in a village that still fishes.

The cannery is open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., but check its site for closures. The official page lists adults at $14.75 and seniors at $12.50. Youth 17 and under get in free. The village streets are open any time.

During the 2016 shoot, the City of Richmond said Steveston businesses stayed open, but road closures and traffic control could run 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on filming days. Pair this with the Godzilla blocks on the same street, then eat fish and chips on the wharf.

3. Granville Island and Canada Place: Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol (False Creek and Downtown)

Near the end of Ghost Protocol, Tom Cruise’s team meets for a beer on the Seattle waterfront. That was Granville Island, shot over three long nights in early March 2011. IMDb lists the spot as the film’s final pier scenes in Seattle.

Vancouver did more than one scene. Hollywood North Buzz reports the cast shot in Prague and Dubai, then spent their final three months of filming in Vancouver. Cruise’s chase through Mumbai wedding traffic was filmed outside the Vancouver Convention Centre in January 2011. The Mumbai TV station was a Richmond office park. The automated Mumbai car park was built inside a Vancouver Drydocks warehouse in North Vancouver.

Granville Island Public Market is open daily 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Getting onto the island is free, but parking costs extra. False Creek ferries run there, the #50 bus stops just off the island at Anderson Street and West 2nd Avenue, and many routes stop at Granville and 5th Avenue. The plaza around Canada Place is open all the time, near Waterfront Station.

Go at night. The giveaway in the “Seattle” scene is the lit-up False Creek skyline between the Burrard and Granville bridges behind the actors.

2. Ovaltine Cafe: I, Robot (Downtown Eastside)

I, Robot is set in Chicago in 2035. Vancouver supplied the city, with heavy CGI on top. The film’s location manager told the Georgia Straight he used the Ovaltine Cafe as the coffee hangout for Will Smith’s detective.

The diner at 251 East Hastings opened in 1942. Global News reported it has barely changed since, from the neon sign to the classic diner interior. That unchanged room is why productions keep coming back. It has also turned up in The X-Files and Supernatural.

A fire closed it for months in 2023. It reopened on Dec. 15, 2023. The cafe’s own site lists hours of 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, with happy hour from 3 to 6 p.m. Confirm before you go.

It’s near Main and Hastings, and buses run along Hastings. Sit at the counter and look out through the neon window. Be respectful of the neighbourhood and the regulars. This is someone’s daily diner before it’s anyone’s film location.

1. səmiq̓ʷəʔelə (Riverview Lands): Watchmen and many more (Coquitlam)

Coquitlam calls the former Riverview Hospital the most-filmed location in Canada. Its buildings regularly stand in for hospitals, police stations and other institutional settings. Atlas Obscura lists the West Lawn, East Lawn and Crease Clinic buildings in productions including Saw, Watchmen, Smallville and Fringe. Watchmen is set in an alternate 1980s New York.

Demand has grown fast. A Tri-City News report from around 2018 said BC Housing handled 200 film contracts in its most recent fiscal year, up from 40 in 2004.

The site is now called səmiq̓ʷəʔelə. BC Housing runs it with the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem) First Nation and welcomes visitors to the grounds. Visiting hours are 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week, all year, and no admission fee is listed. People still live and work here, and the buildings are not open to the public. Security patrols the site 24 hours a day.

The City of Coquitlam’s film office describes the city as about 40 minutes from downtown Vancouver, and there’s parking on site. Personal photos are allowed in common areas, but not of anything under a film licence and never of residents. No drones without BC Housing permission. Dogs stay leashed and aren’t allowed in the cemetery grounds. A 2019 site protocol says there are no public washrooms, so go prepared. Full rules are on the səmiq̓ʷəʔelə visitor page.

What Vancouver played, and whether you can visit

Film	Played	Real spot	Visit
The Interview (2014)	Pyongyang / New York	Robson Square	Yes, public plaza
Godzilla (2014)	San Francisco waterfront	Moncton St, Steveston	Yes
I, Robot (2004)	Chicago, 2035	Ovaltine Cafe	Yes, open daily per its site
MI: Ghost Protocol (2011)	Seattle / Mumbai	Granville Island / Vancouver Convention Centre	Yes
Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)	Portland’s Heathman Hotel	Fairmont Hotel Vancouver	Lobby, yes
Watchmen (2009)	Various scenes	Riverview / səmiq̓ʷəʔelə	Grounds 6am–9pm; buildings no
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)	San Francisco	Wall Centre	Exterior
Power Rangers (2017)	Angel Grove, California	Steveston / Gulf of Georgia Cannery	Yes, cannery 10–5
Twilight: New Moon (2009)	Forks, Washington	David Thompson Secondary	Street view only

When to go

• Steveston works best in the morning, with the cannery opening at 10 a.m.
• Riverview’s grounds are only open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. There’s no public access outside those hours.
• Granville Island Public Market closes at 6 p.m. For the Ghost Protocol skyline, come back after dark.
• Visit the schools on weekends or outside school hours, from the sidewalk.
• The Ovaltine Cafe’s website lists hours of 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.

What to bring

• Water and snacks for Riverview. A 2019 site protocol says there are no public washrooms.
• A leash if your dog is coming.
• A phone camera, not a drone. Drones at Riverview need BC Housing permission.
• Cash or a card for Granville Island parking, which costs extra.

Film-set etiquette and safety

If you come across an active shoot, follow crew directions. Don’t photograph licensed film areas. Riverview enforces this, and its security patrols 24 hours a day. In Steveston, during the 2016 Power Rangers shoot, the City of Richmond said businesses would stay open, but road closures and intermittent traffic control ran 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on filming days, so expect the same kind of disruption if a production is in the village.

The schools on this list are working schools, so stick to the street. On East Hastings, be a customer first and a fan second.

Things that are gone or changed

• The Gassy Jack statue in Gastown, seen in Fifty Shades, was toppled in February 2022. Its pedestal was removed in April 2022. Vancouver Is Awesome reported the statue went into storage, with the Squamish Nation to decide its fate.
• The Ovaltine Cafe closed after a May 2023 fire and reopened in December 2023.
• Riverview is now called səmiq̓ʷəʔelə.

Getting there and a one-day route

Most of these stops are on or near the Canada Line and Expo Line. Drive and transit times between them aren’t posted. Coquitlam’s film office describes the city as about 40 minutes from downtown Vancouver.

• Morning: Steveston. Walk Moncton Street for Godzilla and Power Rangers, then the cannery when it opens at 10 a.m.
• Midday: downtown on the Canada Line. Robson Square for The Interview, the Wall Centre for X-Men, and the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver for Fifty Shades.
• Afternoon: the Ovaltine Cafe for I, Robot, then Gastown.
• Evening: Granville Island for Ghost Protocol. The market closes at 6 p.m., but the skyline view is better after dark anyway.

Save Riverview and the Twilight school for another day.

Hours and cost at each stop

Stop	Film	Hours	Cost
Robson Square	The Interview	Public plaza (hours not posted)	Free
Vancouver Art Gallery	The Interview	10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Fri to 8 p.m., closed Tue; free First Friday 4 to 8 p.m.	$29 B.C. residents, $35 others; free for 18 and under and Indigenous Peoples
Moncton Street, Steveston	Godzilla, Power Rangers	Any time; shop hours vary	Free
Gulf of Georgia Cannery	Power Rangers	Daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.	Adults $14.75, seniors $12.50, 17 and under free
Ovaltine Cafe	I, Robot	Daily 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. (per its site)	Menu prices
Granville Island Public Market	Ghost Protocol	Daily 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.	Free entry; parking extra
Canada Place plaza	Ghost Protocol	Public plaza (hours not posted)	Free
Fairmont Hotel Vancouver lobby	Fifty Shades of Grey	Open to the public	Free
səmiq̓ʷəʔelə grounds	Watchmen	6 a.m. to 9 p.m., daily	Free
Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre	X-Men: The Last Stand	Exterior any time	Free
David Thompson Secondary	New Moon, Eclipse	Street view outside school hours	Free

Most of Hollywood’s fake America is a short transit ride from wherever you are. A plaza downtown, a diner on Hastings and a few blocks in Steveston carry more screen time than most American cities. Watch the films again with this list in hand and the giveaways jump out: the False Creek skyline, the Steveston storefronts, the Wall Centre’s glass. Then go stand where the cameras stood, and leave the place as you found it.

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Photo credits

• Vancouver Skyline and Mountains.jpg by Kyle Pearce/ DIY Genius, CC BY-SA 2.0 (combined into a montage, cropped). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Vancouver Gastown 01.JPG by Xicotencatl, CC BY-SA 4.0 (combined into a montage, cropped). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Cambie street.jpg by User: (WT-shared) Shaund at wts wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0 (combined into a montage, cropped). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Vancouver Northshore Mountains (53458897305).jpg by David Zhang from Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0 (combined into a montage, cropped). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Essondale grounds 1 (18230637543).jpg by Niall Williams from Coquitlam, Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0 (resized; cropped for the featured image). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Vancouver Art Gallery Robson Square from third floor.jpg by unknown, Public domain (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• APC Parked on Godzilla set in Richmond, BC.jpg by SpiderRider3, CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Ovaltine Cafe.jpg by jmv from New Westminster, BC, Canada, CC BY 2.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Granville Island 05.JPG by Xicotencatl, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Hotel Vancouver 01.JPG by Xicotencatl, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Sheraton Wall Centre, Vancouver (6875201939).jpg by Reg Natarajan from Vancouver, Bogotá, CC BY 2.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Gulf-of-Georgia-Cannery.jpg by Arnold C (User:Buchanan-Hermit), Attribution (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Thompson-sec.jpg by Arnold C, Attribution (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.