New map shows where films shot
For decades, Miami Beach’s candy-colored Art Deco buildings and turquoise waters have been postcard-perfect backdrops for movies and TV shows.
The city wants tourists, residents and filmmakers to know exactly where those productions were shot. This week, the city rolled out its “Filmed on the Beach,” an interactive digital tour that, along with photos, pinpoints the name and date and has fun facts about the productions.
“We want our residents to better connect to our city’s history as well as inspire future filmmakers to follow in some of the famous footsteps,” said Matt Kenny, the city’s director of tourism and culture. “The interactive tool will be monumental in doing so and reminding individuals why Miami Beach was, and still remains, a cultural icon on the silver screen.”
The tour features maps broken down by the city’s three neighborhoods, South Beach, MidBeach and North Beach. Purple star icons map the locations and their productions. South Beach has the highest concentration with 32 stars.
The first star marks South Pointe Park and highlights the climax of 2003’s “2 Fast 2 Furious,” which was filmed at the park and along Ocean Drive in the southern tip of the city.
Moving up South Beach, stars point to the 1967 Frank Sinatra movie “Tony Rome,” which was filmed at the original Corsair Hotel and where beach scenes for the 1999 Al Pacino football drama “Any Given Day” were also shot. There’s a star for Casa Casuarina where several scenes for FX’s “American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace” were shot in 2017 in the designer’s former estate.
The Filmore Miami Beach is also included. In 1966, the theater became the home for “The Jackie Gleason Show,” where the actor touted the city as “the fun and sun capital of the world.” Remember “The Birdcage” starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane in 1996? The map points to Lincoln Road, where Robin Williams and Nathan Lane were filmed walking during a farmer’s market scene. (The comedy also filmed scenes at The Carlyle Hotel and Cardozo Hotel.)
All the neighborhoods have stars for the classic 1980s crime drama “Miami Vice,” which filmed in the city and across the causeway in Miami from 1984-1990. In the first episode, a dinner scene with Sonny Crockett and Tubbs was shot at 1438 Washington Ave. just off Española Way. The map includes the 2006 “Miami Vice” movie remake starring Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx, who filmed in various locations including the former Mansion nightclub in South Beach.
And Will Smith and Martin Lawrence’ “Bad Boys,” “Bad Boys 2” and the more recent “Bad Boys For Life” dot several locations on the beach.
It’s not just TV and movies. The map also shows which music videos filmed there. In 2013, boy band One Direction shot scenes for the video “Best Song Ever” at 1415 Euclid Ave. The building was also used for the Showtime series “Dexter” and the “Kardashian Christmas Card” in 2012.
Some locations could easily serve as fun trivia game questions or “Jeopardy!” clues. Did you know scenes from the 1983 classic drug lord movie “Scarface” and the 1992 film “The Bodyguard” were filmed at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach?
If you want to see movies that were shot throughout the region, there’s the Miami-Dade County Movie & TV Map Tour, which can be found at the Filmiami website. That tool features 99 productions that have been shot in the region for the past 100 years.