Filming Locations for Top 2022 Oscar-Nominated Movies

In most cases, movies are intended to tell a story that inspires, and oftentimes that inspiration comes in the form of travel. Every year, Oscar-nominated films showcase the world's best actors, actresses, directors and crew but in the background are the places we can't wait to get to, especially more than two years into the COVID-19 pandemic. The 94th Academy Awards will return to the iconic Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Sunday, March 27. But before the hardware is handed out, let's pay homage to some of the destinations that made these highly acclaimed films possible.

Receiving seven Oscar nominations this year, including for Best Picture, Belfast is a coming-of-age drama telling the story of a young boy's childhood in Northern Ireland during a trying period in the late 1960s. The film was shot in and around London as well as its namesake Belfast over the course of just seven weeks.

Another coming-of-age drama receiving multiple nominations (three) at the 94th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, CODA was filmed about an hour northeast of Boston in the exact same place it is set in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Some scenes were filmed nearby in the seaside town of Rockport, specifically the Steel Derrick Quarry. Boasting a stacked cast that includes Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio, Adam McKay's apocalyptic black comedy Don't Look Up is nominated for four Academy Awards in 2022, including Best Picture. Like CODA, the movie was filmed in and around Massachusetts.

Drive My Car, which earned four nominations at the 94th Academy Awards, including nods for Best Picture, Best Director (Ryusuke Hamaguchi), Best International Feature Film and Best Adapted Screenplay, was filmed in the tourist-friendly Asian country of Japan. Shooting for the film occurred in Hiroshima as well as the country's capital city of Tokyo.

Acclaimed sci-fi epic Dune is up for as many as 10 Oscars this spring, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Cinematography. Production included stops in multiple continents with crew visiting Budapest, Hungary, Jordan's Wadi Rum or Valley of the Moon, Stadlandet, Norway and Liwa Oasis in the United Arab Emirates.

Renowned auteur Paul Thomas Anderson's ninth feature film, Licorice Pizza, is nominated for three Oscars this year, including Best Picture, Best Director (Anderson) and Best Original Screenplay. The movie was filmed in Los Angeles, specifically the Encino neighborhood in the city's San Fernando Valley region. Interestingly, the crew recreated the demolished Tail o' the Cock restaurant at the Van Nuys Golf Course for the movie. Up for a half-dozen Oscar awards this March, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Will Smith) and Best Original Screenplay, King Richard was also shot in and around L.A. Being the Ricardos, Aaron Sorkin's biographical drama about the relationship between Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz was also shot in L.A. The film is up for three Oscars in 2022, including Best Actress (Nicole Kidman), Best Actor (Javier Bardem) and Best Supporting Actor (J.K. Simmons).

Guillermo del Toro's latest thriller, Nightmare Alley, which received four nominations at this year's Academy Awards, including for Best Picture, was filmed in the Northeast with shooting taking place north of the border in Toronto, Canada as well as in Buffalo, New York. Viewers may even recognize Buffalo's Niagara Square and City Hall in some scenes.

Leading the 94th Academy Awards with a whopping 12 nominations, The Power of the Dog was filmed in New Zealand, with shooting kicking off just prior to the pandemic in January 2020. Notable filming sites in the island country included the Maniototo in Central Otago, Dunedin and Oamaru. Keep in mind that the movie's interior scenes were shot on sound stages in the city of Auckland.

Steven Spielberg's highly anticipated iteration of West Side Story was a flop at the box office but nonetheless has received seven nominations ahead of this spring's Academy Awards, including a shot at Best Picture. The film, set in Manhattan, was shot on location in New York and New Jersey. The shooting took place in Harlem and other Manhattan locations as well as in Brooklyn's Flatlands neighborhood. Filming also included several days spent in Paterson, Newark and other parts of Essex County, New Jersey.