“Captain Phillips” is an Action, Drama, Thriller movie that focuses on retelling a true incident that changed the US Navy’s operational environment. It examines in great detail the incident in which a group of Somali pirates hijacked the container ship Maersk Alabama in 2009 and took merchant seaman Captain Richard Phillips hostage. Directed by Paul Greengrass, it is based on Phillips’ book “A Captain’s Duty”.
The 2013 film centers on the ship’s commanding officer, Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks), and the Somali pirate captain Muse (Barkhad Abdi), who kidnaps him. Muse and his crew head to Phillips’ unarmed spaceship, leaving them at the mercy of circumstances beyond their control.
The film, which includes vast expanses of oceans and cramped naval ships, depicts cases very close to reality. Now, know about Captain Phillips movie filming locations.
Where Was Captain Phillips Movie Filmed?
Captain Phillips was filmed in Europe, Virginia, Massachusetts, England, and Morocco. Principal photography for Captain Phillips began on March 26, 2012.
The countries of Malta, Morocco, and England as well as the American states of Virginia and Massachusetts are locations where the action thriller Captain Phillips movie was filmed.
Europe
Much of the filming was done on the island country of Malta. The production team shot several sequences on board the container ship Alexander Maersk. The Danish ship doubled as the real Maersk Alabama for a total of nine weeks while on active duty during that time.
View this post on Instagram
Co-producer Michael De Luca spoke to Screen Daily: “Maersk and the Navy were very supportive of the script and were friends of the production. Maersk made the Alexander sister ship available to us for a nominal fee and was kind of our production partner, as were the Navy.”
De Luca added, “Once we got that level of collaboration, it really made production possible.” For several scenes in the film, the team chose the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Truxtun to represent the USS Bainbridge.
They also used the multipurpose amphibious assault ship USS Wasp, which was actually deployed during the actual event, to record some footage. Describing his experience filming on the lifeboat, Tom Hanks recalled, “I’m not a particularly claustrophobic person, but it was a very small space. There was no other way to do it.”
View this post on Instagram
The actor continued: “We built an exact replica and put it on a gimbal, and that’s where we shot. Environmentally, it will do a lot of the work for you. It’s a very uncomfortable space. It smells awful. The air is bad.
It’s hot and you’re right on top of yourself. But Paul [Greengrass] creates an environment that is very realistic and I can’t imagine doing it any other way. There are paths that were maybe more pleasant, but for everything we needed to do as actors, for us it was a tiny, hot, cramped place with only two small windows.”
View this post on Instagram
Several sequences were shot at Malta Film Studios, one of the largest production complexes in the world. A 300-foot-wide shallow tank located on St. Rocco in the village of Kalkara in the south-eastern region of Malta served as the location of the shooting.
For filming, the team also visited Boiler Wharf at Grand Harbor in the walled city of Senglea and Malta Freeport Terminals at Marsaxlokk Port. Malta is a popular tourist destination with warm temperatures and stunning scenery.
Virginia
Some scenic shots were shot along Virginia Beach and at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia. Speaking about the navy scenes, the co-producer said: “We were off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia for all the naval sequences and then [flew] to Morocco, Somalia.
Massachusetts
For the filming of a smaller part, the cast and crew also visited the northeastern state of Massachusetts, which is home to many prestigious universities and institutions. In the Bay State, specifically the New England region, the team chose several locations in and around Worcester, Worcester County, and Boston, Suffolk County as shooting locations.
View this post on Instagram
“Captain Phillips.” While several scenes were filmed at the Worcester Regional Airport, located at 375 Airport Drive a few miles from the city of Worcester, the state capital of Boston stood in for Captain Phillips’ hometown of Vermont. In addition to filming in and around Worcester and Boston, the cities of Lincoln and Lexington in Middlesex County also served as filming locations for several sequences.
England
“Captain Phillips.” One of the other locations where the cast and crew spent time filming is Longcross Studios in Chobham Lane, Surrey, South East England. The interior lifeboat sequences were filmed on a small stage in the studio complex.
Morocco
Located in the Maghreb region of North Africa, Morocco is also one of the exciting locations of ‘Captain Phillips.’ More specifically, several scenes were shot in Agadir, a beautiful city known for its beaches. According to sources, the film was originally supposed to be shot in Egypt, but some security concerns in the region led the crew to find a similar setting and ended up in Morocco.
View this post on Instagram
In 2012, Hanks and Greengrass were reportedly spotted scouting beaches and locations to finalize details in the region.
Related – All Saints Christmas (2022): Where Was Romance Movie Filmed?
