Where Was The Sun Never Sets 2026 Movie Filmed? All Shooting Locations

Joe Swanberg’s The Sun Never Sets is a romantic drama with a distinctly Alaskan identity. Starring Dakota Fanning, Jake Johnson, Cory Michael Smith, Debby Ryan, Anna Konkle and Lamorne Morris, the film follows Wendy, a young woman whose relationship with her older, divorced boyfriend Jack becomes complicated when she reconnects with her former boyfriend Chuck. What begins as a temporary relationship break soon turns into an emotional love triangle against the striking backdrop of Alaska.

The movie is particularly interesting for location fans because Alaska isn’t simply a backdrop. Director Joe Swanberg deliberately used the region’s mountains, outdoor spaces, long summer daylight and rugged surroundings to expand the visual language of his filmmaking. The movie was shot on 35mm film in Anchorage, Alaska, and Swanberg moved several scenes outdoors after arriving in the state because he wanted to take advantage of the environment.

So, where exactly was The Sun Never Sets filmed? The primary production took place in Anchorage, with additional scenes around the Seward Highway, Beluga Point, Eagle River and Chugach State Park. Some exact private locations remain unnamed, but the publicly reported locations give a good picture of the movie’s real-world shooting environment.

The Sun Never Sets Release Date

The Sun Never Sets had its world premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival on March 13, 2026. The film later moved into theatrical distribution, with Independent Film Company announcing a U.S. theatrical release beginning August 28, 2026, followed by a wider expansion on September 4, 2026.

The film has a runtime of approximately 102 minutes and was written, directed and edited by Joe Swanberg. Its principal cast includes Dakota Fanning as Wendy, Jake Johnson as Jack and Cory Michael Smith as Chuck.

The movie was produced under The Alaska Project, and the Alaska setting is reflected not only in the story but also in the production itself.

Where Was The Sun Never Sets Filmed?

The answer is Alaska, with Anchorage serving as the main filming location.

Production sources and film databases identify Alaska as the filming state, while multiple interviews with Swanberg and members of the production specifically confirm that the movie was shot in and around Anchorage. The Chicago Sun-Times describes the movie as both set and shot in Anchorage, while the Los Angeles Times confirms that it was shot on 35mm in the city.

The production also used the surrounding Alaskan landscape for outdoor scenes, taking advantage of parks, trails, highways and scenic areas.

Anchorage, Alaska

Anchorage is the main filming location for The Sun Never Sets.

The city is also the primary setting of the story. Wendy’s life, relationships and work are all connected to Anchorage, making the city much more than a convenient filming location.

Swanberg had a personal reason for choosing the area. His producer Ashleigh Snead lives in Anchorage, and she helped him understand what could be achieved locally. She encouraged Swanberg to consider making a movie there when another project had been delayed.

The director had originally imagined the story in another American city, but Alaska offered something he had not previously explored in his filmmaking.

That changed the movie considerably. Instead of relying heavily on apartments, restaurants and bars—the kinds of intimate interiors frequently associated with Swanberg’s earlier films—he began moving scenes outdoors.

In an interview with Script Magazine, Swanberg explained that once the crew arrived in Alaska, he realized that people in Anchorage spend considerable time outside when the weather is good. He therefore changed several scenes originally written as interiors and used parks, hiking trails and patios instead.

Anchorage’s Parks and Outdoor Spaces

The city’s parks and outdoor areas are among the movie’s most important visual environments.

Swanberg’s decision to move scenes outdoors meant that Anchorage itself became part of the storytelling. Rather than simply placing characters against generic backgrounds, the movie allows them to interact with the natural surroundings.

This works particularly well for Wendy and Chuck. Their relationship is associated with adventure, freedom and uncertainty, while Jack represents stability and a more settled lifestyle. The open Alaskan landscape visually complements that contrast.

The production did not publicly identify every individual park used in the movie, so it would be inaccurate to assign every outdoor scene to a specific named location. What is confirmed is that parks, trails and patios around Anchorage were used during production.

Seward Highway

Another notable filming area is the Seward Highway, the spectacular highway connecting Anchorage with communities farther south.

The highway provides exactly the kind of scenery that makes Alaska recognizable on screen: mountains, water, open roads and enormous stretches of wilderness. According to location reporting, portions of the movie were filmed along the Seward Highway corridor, including areas south of Anchorage.

The highway is especially appropriate for The Sun Never Sets because the movie frequently emphasizes movement, outdoor adventure and the contrast between relationships and the enormous environment surrounding the characters.

For viewers interested in visiting filming locations, the Seward Highway is one of the easiest places to connect the movie’s fictional world with a real Alaskan landscape.

Beluga Point

Beluga Point is another reported filming location.

Located along the Seward Highway south of Anchorage, Beluga Point is famous for its dramatic views across Turnagain Arm and toward the surrounding mountains. The location provides an unusually cinematic combination of rocky shoreline, mountains, water and highway scenery.

According to location research for the movie, Beluga Point appears among the recognizable real-world locations used during production.

For The Sun Never Sets, a location like Beluga Point is especially effective because the characters’ personal problems feel small compared with the enormous Alaskan landscape around them. That visual contrast is one of the movie’s strongest qualities.

Eagle River

Eagle River, located just outside Anchorage, also features in the movie’s reported filming landscape.

The area is known for its forests, rivers and access to the wider Chugach wilderness. For filmmakers, Eagle River offers an important combination: it is close enough to Anchorage for practical production purposes while still providing a much more remote appearance.

That makes it useful for scenes that need to feel removed from the city without requiring the crew to travel extremely far from the production base. Location reports identify Eagle River and surrounding areas as part of the movie’s broader Alaskan filming environment.

Chugach State Park

The spectacular Chugach State Park is another location associated with the movie.

Situated near Anchorage, Chugach State Park contains vast areas of mountains, forests, rivers and hiking terrain. The park provides exactly the kind of wilderness atmosphere that Swanberg wanted to incorporate into the movie. Rather than using Alaska as a postcard-style background, the filmmakers incorporated the outdoors into character interactions and everyday scenes.

The use of trails and natural spaces also fits Swanberg’s decision to move several sequences outdoors after arriving in Anchorage.

Why Did Joe Swanberg Choose Alaska?

Alaska became part of the project almost by accident. Swanberg’s producer, Ashleigh Snead, was based in Anchorage and had an opportunity that made shooting there practical. When she contacted Swanberg about making something in Alaska, he revived an idea he had been developing since around 2019.

He had originally imagined the story in a city such as Seattle, but the opportunity to film in Alaska changed the concept. The setting also gave Swanberg a chance to do something visually different. The director is known for intimate relationship stories, often using relatively modest locations. The Sun Never Sets allowed him to place those complicated personal conversations against huge landscapes.

The contrast is deliberate: small emotional problems inside a massive environment.

The Endless Summer Day

The title The Sun Never Sets also connects naturally with the location. Anchorage experiences extremely long summer daylight, and this became part of the production experience.

Rather than attempting to hide Alaska’s unusual light conditions, the filmmakers embraced them. The long days allowed the production to shoot outdoor scenes in conditions that would be difficult or impossible in many other locations.

The unusual daylight also reinforces the movie’s atmosphere. Wendy is going through a period in which her normal sense of direction has been disrupted, and the constant brightness of the Alaskan summer gives the film a distinctive visual identity.

When Was The Sun Never Sets Filmed?

The production took place in Alaska before the movie’s 2026 festival and theatrical run.

By August 2025, casting announcements confirmed Dakota Fanning, Jake Johnson and Cory Michael Smith for Swanberg’s Alaskan romantic drama, with principal photography subsequently completed in Alaska. The film was shot on 35mm, making the production technically more demanding than a typical digital shoot. Cinematographer Eon Mora photographed the film, while Swanberg served as editor.

The decision to use 35mm was particularly notable because shooting film in Alaska presented additional logistical challenges. The crew had to manage film stock, processing and equipment while working far from the continental U.S. production centers.

What Happened After Filming?

After production wrapped in Alaska, The Sun Never Sets entered post-production.

Swanberg edited the film himself, completing the feature that would eventually premiere at SXSW in March 2026. The movie then moved through the festival and distribution process.

Independent Film Company and Sapan Studio acquired distribution rights in 2026, with the film scheduled for its U.S. theatrical rollout beginning August 28. Importantly, there is no indication that the production moved to another state for a major second filming phase. Alaska remained the movie’s central production environment.

The Sun Never Sets is one of those movies where the filming location is inseparable from the story.

The movie was primarily filmed in Anchorage, Alaska, with production also using the surrounding landscape, including the Seward Highway, Beluga Point, Eagle River and areas associated with Chugach State Park.

Director Joe Swanberg’s decision to shoot in Alaska came through his connection with Anchorage-based producer Ashleigh Snead. Once production began, the landscape influenced the filmmaking itself: several scenes that were originally written as interiors were moved outdoors to parks, hiking trails and patios.

The result is a romantic drama in which the setting feels almost like another character. The mountains, forests, roads and unusually long summer daylight give Wendy’s complicated relationship story a visual scale that Swanberg’s earlier, more intimate films often did not have.

For fans wanting to see the real landscapes behind the movie, Anchorage and the Seward Highway corridor are the best starting points, while Beluga Point, Eagle River and Chugach State Park provide some of the most recognizable Alaskan scenery connected with the production.

After filming, the movie moved through post-production and its festival run before arriving in U.S. theaters in August 2026. The finished film ultimately preserves what made the production special: a deeply personal relationship drama photographed on 35mm against the enormous, unforgettable landscape of Alaska.

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