With The Hangover – Part II in wide release today (and 74% of Fandango’s ticket sales), summer getaways are on everyone’s mind. (Much of the second Hangover was shot in Thailand.)
Fandango asked more than 2,000 of its filmgoers in a May survey which summer 2011 movie location-destinations they would most want to visit across America.
The top summer 2011 movie getaways in the U.S., as selected in our moviegoer poll, rank as follows:
1. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’ Halona Cove, Oahu. This rocky shoreline is the actual filming location where the pirates land at the Island of the Fountain of Youth. It also happens to be the site of a classic movie embrace where Burt Lancaster & Deborah Kerr kiss in the sand and surf in From Here to Eternity. 2. Transformers: Dark of the Moon’s The Loop in Downtown Chicago. Wacker Drive hadn’t seen enough action since The Dark Knight filmed there. Michael Bay-engineered explosions took place in front of Hotel 71, Trump Tower and the Italian restaurant, Bella Bacino’s, which has since added a “Transformartini” and “Optimus Prime Burger” to its menu items.
3. Cowboys and Aliens’ Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu. New Mexico. Cowboys shot in various locations throughout New Mexico and California, but the strange pinnacles and red rocks of this ghostly retreat (known to locals as "El Rancho de los Brujos", derived from the legendary hangings in the ranch's history) provided a pivotal backdrop in Jon Favreau's upcoming sci-fi actioner. The desolate location also appeared in Indiana Jones 4, 3:10 to Yuma and as the dude ranch in City Slickers.4. Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ San Francisco Cable Cars. Although most of it was shot in British Columbia, this San Francisco-based sci-fi thriller also shot at actual locations throughout The City including Coit Tower, Palace of Fine Arts, Crissy Field, the Victorian buildings of Alamo Square, and most prominently, the Cable Cars.
5. Super 8’s Weirton, West Virginia. J.J. Abrams filmed for several weeks at 25 locations in and around this former steel town. Weirton, which also appeared in some scenes in 1978’s Oscar winner The Deer Hunter, is getting ready to launch its own Super 8 movie location tours and a movie map to boost the local economy.
Last but not least on the list was Bridesmaids’ Brazilian steakhouse where the girls get food poisoning. Although set in the Midwest, the actual filming location was in Van Nuys, CA, at a popular Mexican restaurant called La Sirenita. The owners have a refreshing sense of humor about its infamous role in Bridesmaids, and some fans have even journeyed to this great little mariscos café because of it.
