Between November 2024 and April 2025 two major film productions took place employing buildings designed by Valencian architect Santiago Calatrava.
In Oviedo, Asturias, the Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos, aka El Calatrava became the United Nations for the film The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
The hall of this sci-fi building appears in the film’s trailer as a journalist asks Pedro Pascual if they are safe, a scene filmed in November 2024.
In April 2025 Johnny Depp was to be found shooting Day Drinker in Tenerife, where the Auditorio de Tenerife “Adán Martín” is located in the port area of the island’s capital, Santa Cruz, evoking the Sydney Opera House, although curiously representing Zurich in the film.
The same building had previously been used in the series The One, a science fiction story about DNA with the series opening at the Auditorio, where Rebecca gives a conference explaining her project to find people their perfect partner.
One minor Calatrava work and a minor film was Faust: Love of the Damned (2000), filmed largely in Barcelona.
One of the architectural gems of the film, which appears in the opening credits and later as the scenario of Jasper’s suicide bid and meeting with the Devil (or M as they call him with perhaps a nod and a wink to Bond, James Bond) is the Bach de Roda bridge, which crosses a train line and joins Felipe II and Bach de Roda streets in the Barcelona district of Sant Martí.
Although the bridge has its ground supports augmented by digital techniques, the basic structure of Santiago Calatrava’s first important bridge is intact.
The tower, located in Montjuïc, part of Barcelona’s Olympic Park, was built in order to transmit the 1992 Olympic Games.
However, Calatrava’s most popular building among film makers is undoubtedly The City of Arts and Sciences (CAC), a leisure centre of outstanding architectural complexity designed by Salvador Calatrava, Félix Candela, José María Tomás Llavador, Alberto Domingo and Carlos Lázaro.
The idea started as long ago as 1989, and it wasn’t until 1998 that the first building, the Hemisféric, a 3D cinema was opened.
Since then a science museum, an opera house, an oceanographic and a sports centre have been added, as well as the Umbracle, an open air exhibition and concert centre above the car park.
The ‘City’ is a huge attraction for tourists, but also for film and series producers, as well as the advertising industry.
Di Di Hollywood (2010) starred Elsa Pataky and told the story of a Spanish actress who makes it big in the U.S.A.
Towards the end of the picture, with Di Di (Pataky) now a superstar, is in Valencia for the premiere of her new film ‘Pacific.’ The premiere actually takes place at the City of Arts and Sciences, including interior shots of the screening inside the Opera House and exteriors of the Hemisféric.
Tomorrowland (2015) starred George Clooney and at the City of Arts and Sciences (CACS) filming took place in January 2014 with Clooney joined by co-star Hugh Laurie.
The ‘City’ is often hard to recognise, but there are four points when we can identify the sci-fi architecture of Valencian Santiago Calatrava.
When Casey finally reaches the city across the wheatfield, she finds herself there.
After a train ride, the CAC is also recognisable, especially the façade of the Science Museum.
When the spaceship escapes Earth and crashes into the CAC we see the planet in ruins.
When Clooney (Frank) crashes into a lake, after destroying the evil machine at the end of the film, we see the first-built building of the complex, the domed Hemisferic, where Tomorrowland’s international premiere took place.
In Bill and Ted Face the Music (2020) Keanu Reeves stars in an update of an old story about two rockers trying to save the world.
Although filmed entirely in Louisiana USA, San Dimas, set in the year 2720, is in fact the City of Arts and Sciences (CAC) of Valencia, although this time the stars stayed home and did everything on green screen, while Valencia’s sci-fi complex was padded out with some serious CGI. One such example of padding was adding Calatrava’s Montjuïc Communications Tower, located in Barcelona’s Olympic Park and built in order to transmit the 1992 Olympic Games. The Tower also appears briefly in the mini series ‘Us’ (2020).
CAC represents the home of the Great Ones, led by Holland Taylor, Charlie Sheen’s mother in Two and a Half Men.
A whole lot of series have realised that the CAC provides an amazing backdrop. In Westworld the CAC plays the hi-tech HQ of the Delos corporation, where we see Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson) landing by helicopter.
One of the oldest and most successful TV Series, Doctor Who, used the CAC in 2017 for an episode of the legendary British series. Since 1963 the time-travelling Doctor has changed identities 12 times, and was being played at the time by Peter Capaldi. In fact, the first episode was screened the day after President Kennedy’s assassination.
But Valencia was not feeling itself, as the futuristic City of Arts and Sciences complex represented Colony World Gliese 581 D, where, according to the BBC’s magazine Radio Times: “architect Santiago Calatrava…..created an opera house like a spaceship; an Imax cinema resembling a giant eye; a science museum that could be an aircraft hangar crossed with a whale skeleton…”
‘Intergalactic’ is a Sky series, although they dropped it after one season.
A group of prisoners escapes while being exiled, and then they start fighting for their freedom in some desolate locations, such as the deserts of Tabernas, Almería and Gorafe, Granada.
Their point of departure however is the much nicer CAC, with all the usual CGI additives, representing a futuristic London.
In episode 3 of Citadel, a story of spies with their memories erased, Wendell is arrested and shot. This takes place in the Umbracle, a spectacular gardened esplanade and exhibition zone, part of the CAC complex.
There is a night time aerial view of the CAC in episode 6 and in episode 8 Rebecca Harper’s coup takes place in the Palau des Arts, also known as the Opera House.
The second visit to Valencia takes place in episode 5, where we see an aerial view of the City of Arts and Sciences.
In episode 6 the CAC, and especially the opera house, is the scenario for Mason and Nadia’s rescue of their daughter.
Almost nobody would accuse George Lucas of milking a dead horse, and practically everyone agrees that Star Wars really needed a prequel to Rogue One. Nevertheless, what there is no doubt whatsoever about is that Andor is not about money, it is about art.
In March and April 2023 Lucasfilms descended upon the city of Valencia to shoot scenes for the second season of Andor, and the City of Arts and Sciences was the centre of attention.
Our thanks to www.moviesmadeinspain.com for this information.
