Orange County has appeared on screen in everything from Oscar-winning dramas and action movies to comedies and holiday films. Familiar local landmarks including Crystal Cove State Park, Old Towne Orange, the Old Orange County Courthouse, John Wayne Airport, Chapman University and Seal Beach have all served as filming locations. Here are notable movies filmed in Orange County, California, and the places you may recognize.
Orange County Movie Filming Locations at a Glance
| Movie | Year | Orange County Filming Location | City/Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beaches | 1988 | Crystal Cove Cottage #13 | Crystal Cove |
| Rain Man | 1988 | Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center | Santa Ana |
| Jerry Maguire | 1996 | John Wayne Airport | Orange County |
| That Thing You Do! | 1996 | Orange Plaza / Watson Drug Store | Orange |
| Death Race 2000 | 1975 | Chet Holifield Federal Building | Laguna Niguel |
| The Hangover Part III | 2013 | State Route 73 | Orange County |
| American Sniper | 2014 | Seal Beach area | Seal Beach |
| The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle | 2000 | Chapman University | Orange |
| A Few Good Men | 1992 | Crystal Cove State Park | Crystal Cove |
| Legally Blonde | 2001 | Old Orange County Courthouse | Santa Ana |
Movies Filmed in Orange County
Beaches (1988)
Crystal Cove Cottage #13 had a memorable role in Beaches, starring Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey. The Crystal Cove Conservancy confirms that the cottage was temporarily transformed into a film set for the 1988 movie. Today it is the Beaches Film & Media Center in the Crystal Cove Historic District, and its front porch is open to visitors year-round.
Catch Me If You Can (2002)
The historic Old Orange County Courthouse in Santa Ana appears in Catch Me If You Can. The courthouse is one of Orange County’s most recognizable historic filming locations and has also appeared in other productions, including Legally Blonde.
Rain Man (1988)
The closing train-station scene in Rain Man was filmed at the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center. The Orange County station doubled for Los Angeles as Charlie Babbitt, played by Tom Cruise, sees Raymond, played by Dustin Hoffman, off on the train.
Jerry Maguire (1996)
Jerry Maguire used John Wayne Airport as one of its Southern California filming locations. The airport is the best-documented Orange County location associated with the Tom Cruise film.
Iron Man (2008)
Orange County filming guides have associated Iron Man with modern office locations in Irvine. Because detailed accounts of the specific Irvine interiors vary, the broader Irvine filming connection is more useful here than the previous unsupported corporate-building history.
The Fast and the Furious (2001)
The original The Fast and the Furious is associated with filming in Westminster’s Little Saigon, including the Bolsa Avenue area and Vietnamese Cultural Court. These scenes helped give the first movie in the franchise some distinctly Orange County backdrops.
Death Race 2000 (1975)
The Roger Corman-produced cult film Death Race 2000 used the distinctive Chet Holifield Federal Building in Laguna Niguel as a filming location. The unusual government complex has also attracted other film and television productions.
American Sniper (2014)
Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper, starring Bradley Cooper, filmed scenes in Seal Beach. Locations associated with the production include the Main Street area and O’Malley’s, near the Seal Beach Pier.
That Thing You Do! (1996)
Old Towne Orange supplied period-friendly backdrops for Tom Hanks’ That Thing You Do!. Filming locations included Orange Plaza and Watson Drug Store, making this one of the most recognizable examples of Orange County standing in for an earlier era on screen.
Pearl Harbor (2001)
The former Marine Corps Air Station Tustin and its enormous blimp-hangar complex have long attracted film and television productions, including Pearl Harbor. The historic north hangar was destroyed by fire in November 2023, so the site no longer looks as it did when the movie was filmed.
Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
Filming-location accounts associate Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Eleven with the University of California, Irvine, including the Gillespie Neuroscience Research Facility. The previous unrelated comparison to Dawn of the Dead has been removed to keep the focus on Orange County.
The Hangover Part III (2013)
A major freeway sequence for The Hangover Part III was filmed on State Route 73 in Orange County. Contemporary reporting says the production closed part of the toll road for two days and that planning for the shoot took about three months.
The Gumball Rally (1976)
The Gumball Rally is associated with filming around Orange Plaza. Accounts of the production describe storefront modifications for an action sequence involving motorcycles; the movie was released in 1976.
Surviving Christmas (2004)
The holiday comedy Surviving Christmas filmed scenes in Old Towne Orange. The production dressed the area for winter with artificial snow, and scenes feature the historic Orange Plaza area and storefronts around the Circle.
The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle (2000)
Chapman University in Orange became the fictional “Wossamotta U” during filming for The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle. Memorial Hall and the campus provided the backdrop for the movie’s university scenes.
Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion (1997)
The façade of the Newport Beach Central Library has been identified in filming-location records for Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion.
Mamma Mia! (2008)
Mamma Mia! is best known for its Greek locations and studio filming. Filming-location databases also list Laguna Beach for beach footage, although documentation for the Orange County material is less extensive than for the movie’s principal Greek locations.
A Few Good Men (1992)
California State Parks confirms that portions of A Few Good Men were filmed at Crystal Cove State Park. The movie’s story includes the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, and Southern California locations helped create the on-screen setting.
Legally Blonde (2001)
The Old Orange County Courthouse in Santa Ana was used for courtroom-related filming in Legally Blonde. The historic courthouse is especially notable because it has appeared in multiple film and television productions.
Big Momma’s House (2000)
Big Momma’s House used several locations in Orange, including the Plaza Square and Glassell Street area and Chapman University. A private Old Towne residence was also used during production; its address is omitted here out of respect for the property.
The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001)
The Coen brothers used Old Towne Orange to help create the period setting of The Man Who Wasn’t There. Streets and businesses around the Plaza were dressed to represent mid-century California.
American Wedding (2003)
American Wedding filmed in Orange, including a Glassell Street location used as a flower shop. Chapman University was also used as a hospital setting.
The Benchwarmers (2006)
The comedy The Benchwarmers filmed in Orange, including at Watson’s Soda Fountain in Old Towne. The production also used other Orange locations and private residences.
Crimson Tide (1995)
Chapman University’s Memorial Hall was used as a filming location for Crimson Tide, the submarine thriller starring Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman. Chapman has confirmed Memorial Hall’s use in this and several other productions.
D2: The Mighty Ducks (1994)
The championship game in Disney’s D2: The Mighty Ducks was filmed at Anaheim’s then-new arena, later known as Arrowhead Pond and now the Honda Center. Disney recruited thousands of local extras for the Team USA versus Iceland sequence.
Angels in the Outfield (1994)
Anaheim Stadium, now Angel Stadium, appears in Angels in the Outfield. However, many of the movie’s baseball sequences were filmed at the Oakland Coliseum, so Anaheim’s role should not be confused with the film’s principal game photography.
The Fan (1996)
Angel Stadium also appeared in The Fan, starring Robert De Niro and Wesley Snipes. The Anaheim ballpark was used as a stand-in for San Francisco’s Candlestick Park.
The Ten Commandments (1923)
Seal Beach played the Red Sea in Cecil B. DeMille’s 1923 silent epic The Ten Commandments. Contemporary historical accounts describe a huge production on the shoreline involving hundreds of extras, cavalry and livestock, making it one of Orange County’s most notable early-Hollywood filming stories.
Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
The famous cliffside “chicken” race in Rebel Without a Cause was filmed on a bluff in Dana Point, according to historical reporting on Orange County’s film locations.
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
UC Irvine’s modern architecture provided futuristic backdrops for Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. The campus’s distinctive concrete buildings made it a natural fit for the film’s near-future setting.
The Hindenburg (1975)
The former Marine Corps Air Station Tustin was used in The Hindenburg, with its massive blimp-hangar complex helping stand in for Lakehurst, New Jersey. The site became one of Orange County’s most distinctive large-scale filming locations.
Cleopatra (1917)
The lost 1917 silent film Cleopatra, starring Theda Bara, used Upper Newport Bay to represent the Nile. The production is part of Newport Beach’s long connection to filmmaking during Hollywood’s silent era.
The Boat (1921)
Buster Keaton filmed portions of the silent comedy The Boat around Newport Harbor and Balboa, among the Orange County coastal locations used during the early decades of Southern California filmmaking.
College (1927)
Buster Keaton returned to the Newport Harbor and Balboa area for filming associated with College, adding another silent-era production to Orange County’s film history.
It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)
The sprawling comedy It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World used the Laguna Canyon area for its memorable plane-and-billboard sequence, with a billboard constructed for the production.
TV Filmed in Orange County
American Horror Story: Asylum
The Old Orange County Courthouse was used as a filming location for American Horror Story: Asylum. Because it is a television series rather than a movie, it is listed separately here. For more Orange County television locations, see our Orange County TV and reality-show guide.
Famous Orange County Filming Locations
- Crystal Cove State Park: Beaches and portions of A Few Good Men, along with a long history of movie production at the park.
- Old Orange County Courthouse, Santa Ana: used by productions including Legally Blonde and Catch Me If You Can.
- Old Towne Orange: recognizable in productions including That Thing You Do! and Surviving Christmas.
- Chapman University: transformed into Wossamotta U for The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle.
- Seal Beach: featured in American Sniper.
- John Wayne Airport: used in Jerry Maguire.
Orange County: The Movie That Was Mostly Filmed Elsewhere
Despite its title and Orange County setting, the 2002 comedy Orange County was largely filmed outside Orange County. Documented production locations include areas of Los Angeles County such as West Hills, along with Pomona, Malibu and Los Angeles-area college campuses. It is one of the more ironic examples of Southern California locations standing in for Orange County on screen.
This guide covers Orange County, California. It should not be confused with productions filmed in Orange County, New York.
Sources
- Crystal Cove Conservancy — Cottage #13 and Beaches
- California State Parks — Selected Motion Pictures Filmed in State Parks
- Los Angeles Times — Rain Man filming at the Santa Ana station