{"id":157,"date":"2015-06-15T10:26:42","date_gmt":"2015-06-15T17:26:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apartmentsbstg.wpengine.com\/?p=157"},"modified":"2025-07-21T15:38:54","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T22:38:54","slug":"movies-filmed-orange-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.irvinecompanyapartments.com\/movies-filmed-orange-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Movies Filmed in Orange County"},"content":{"rendered":"

Image via:\u00a0James Willamor<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

North Orange County is just about 20 miles from downtown Los Angeles<\/a>, so for some it may not be surprising to find out movie filming occasionally rolls over into Orange County. But having lived here almost all of my life, it\u2019s somewhat shocking. I\u2019ve never heard any buzz about a movie being filmed at my high school or minutes away from my home at the beach. The film industry seems to have kept it pretty hush-hush (or maybe I need to get out more).<\/p>\n

With one quick Google search, dozens of movies filmed in quiet Orange County<\/a> popped up. Popular films, classic films, and even films I\u2019ve never heard of have been shot in the beautiful Orange County weather. You\u2019d never know how diverse the setting of Orange County could be until you noticed the diversity of these films.<\/p>\n

\u201cIron Man\u201d \u2013 (now Masimo), Irvine<\/h3>\n

A popular office building turned movie set, the former Nikken headquarters doesn\u2019t seem camera shy. Many office scenes have been shot here, including a few featuring Tony Stark.<\/p>\n

\u201cOcean\u2019s Eleven\u201d \u2013 Scenes at UCI Campus<\/h3>\n

At University of California, Irvine<\/a>, the Gillespie Neuroscience Research Facility played an important role in Ocean\u2019s Eleven, the set. The cast and crew spent nights and holidays shooting, while students hit the books during the days.<\/p>\n

\u201cJerry Maguire\u201d – Scenes at John Wayne Airport and Fashion Island<\/h3>\n

I first watched Jerry Maguire a year or two ago and didn\u2019t even spot Newport Beach<\/a>\u2019s Fashion Island. The movie was also filmed at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, so I may need to watch it again to see these spots for myself.<\/p>\n

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Image via:\u00a0Tracie Hall<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cBeaches\u201d \u2013 Crystal Cove<\/h3>\n

Filming in Orange County isn\u2019t anything new. It\u2019s been happening for more than 25 years. The movie \u201cBeaches\u201d was filmed on the beautiful beaches in Laguna and Crystal Cove in 1988.<\/p>\n

\u201cSavages\u201d \u2013 Laguna Beach<\/h3>\n

Much of this movie was shot in Laguna Beach. From ocean view real estate to sandy beach scenes, Laguna Beach was a perfect location for the film.<\/p>\n

\u201cCatch Me If You Can\u201d \u2013 Old County Courthouse in Santa Ana<\/h3>\n

One of the more popular Orange County filming locations, the Old County Courthouse in Santa Ana was used to film \u201cCatch Me If You Can.\u201d The matured courtrooms can be spotted in many other films as well.<\/p>\n

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Image Via:\u00a0Ken Lund<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Hangover III\u201d \u2013 73 freeway between Costa Mesa & Newport Beach<\/h3>\n

\u201cThe Hangover III\u201d cast and crew caused a stir when they shut the 73 freeway down for two days while filming. I\u2019m relieved they shut down the 73 and not the 405.<\/p>\n

\u201cRain Man\u201d \u2013 Santa Ana Train Station<\/h3>\n

Barry Levinson wrapped up his film, \u201cRain Man,\u201d at Orange County\u2019s Santa Ana Train Station. Although \u201cRain Man\u201d is said to be the first film shot at the Spanish-style building, but there is no doubt it will be used in future movies.<\/p>\n

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Image Via:\u00a0Charlie Nguyen<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThat Thing You Do\u201d \u2013 Old Town Orange near Chapman University<\/h3>\n

A filming location for decades, Old Town Orange has been transformed time and time again. Tom Hanks ventured to Orange to film \u201cThat Thing You Do,\u201d just one of the more than 20 feature films that have taken over Old Town Orange for production purposes.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmerican Sniper\u201d \u2013 Seal Beach<\/h3>\n

“American Sniper” was possibly the most recently released movie to be shot on Orange County territory. One scene from the film was shot on the pier in Seal Beach.<\/p>\n

\u201cPearl Harbor\u201d \u2013 Tustin<\/a> Hangar<\/h3>\n

As a child I remember driving by this hangar and wondering what on earth it was. Well, apparently now it\u2019s a movie set. The Marine Corps Air Station is seen in many movies, Pearl Harbor is just one.<\/p>\n

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Image Via:\u00a0Dave Walker<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re planning on making a big (or small) move to Orange County, we may have a perfect apartment waiting for you. Begin your Orange County apartment search below!<\/p>\n

Search OC Apartments<\/span><\/a>\n

Sources:<\/strong>
\nhttps:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/d\/viewer?msa=0&mid=z-aF-oJ7LG1U.kZtmATjCoBoY<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/losangeles.cbslocal.com\/top-lists\/ocs-most-popular-filming-locations\/<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/articles.latimes.com\/2012\/nov\/06\/entertainment\/la-et-ct-onlocation-20121106<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/www.socsci.uci.edu\/~rdalton\/movies\/ucimovies.htm<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/www.coastmagazine.com\/articles\/filmlocations-1240–.html<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/articles.latimes.com\/1989-03-26\/entertainment\/ca-1152_1_santa-ana<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/www.ocregister.com\/articles\/old-381130-towne-crews.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

North Orange County is just about 20 miles from downtown Los Angeles, so for some it may not be surprising to find out movie filming occasionally rolls over into Orange County.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":164,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[139],"tags":[41,12,47,28,31,22,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-157","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-neighborhood-guides","8":"tag-costa-mesa","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-fashion-island","11":"tag-irvine","12":"tag-newport-beach","13":"tag-orange-county","14":"tag-tustin"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.irvinecompanyapartments.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.irvinecompanyapartments.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.irvinecompanyapartments.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.irvinecompanyapartments.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.irvinecompanyapartments.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.irvinecompanyapartments.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.irvinecompanyapartments.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.irvinecompanyapartments.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.irvinecompanyapartments.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.irvinecompanyapartments.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}