Where Was Asteroid City Filmed?

Asteroid City is Wes Anderson’s latest movie and, as you might expect, it sports a star-studded ensemble cast. It’s set in the titular Asteroid City, a small desert town in the American Southwest. If you’ve ever been there, or played Fallout: New Vegas, you’ll recognise the vibe. However, is that where the movie was really made? If you’re wondering where Asteroid City was filmed, I’ve got the answer.

Here’s the Location Where Asteroid City was Filmed

If you’re watching a show that’s supposedly set in New York, there’s every chance it wasn’t. Sure, some shots might feature the NY skyline but there’s no guarantee. Filmmakers often shoot where it’s cheapest; the X-Files was supposed to take place in and around Washington D.C. but it was mostly shot in Vancouver.

In a similar vein, Asteroid City was not filmed in and around Arizona, California, or anywhere else in the American Southwest. Instead, it was filmed just outside the Spanish towns of Chinchón and Colmenar de Oreja, and the town of Asteroid City was a set constructed on site.

Speaking to Conde Nast Traveller, producer Jeremy Dawson stated, “we needed the big sky feeling that you get in the American West. We wanted good weather, for big bright blue skies to contrast the earth.”

They used red earth to give the set that Arizona feel, though even that was sourced locally. However, if you’re planning on taking a trip to Spain to check the site out, we have bad news. The whole set was struck and removed after filming and the area is now, once again, farmland.

Spain has a long history of standing in for the American West. Spaghetti westerns like The Good, the Bad and the Ugly used Spain’s geography to imitate the American West.

So the answer to where Asteroid City was filmed is between Chinchón and Colmenar de Oreja in Spain.