Robert Zemeckis · 2000 · filmed January 1999 to May 2000
Chuck’s island, his ocean and his escape were not one place. They were an island in Fiji, a reef nearby and a stage in Culver City. Tie them together below.
The shoot
The film was shot in two parts. Slide along the calendar from Moscow to the last day in Texas.
January 1999 · Red Square
The crew spent about a week in Moscow and closed Red Square completely.
Moscow’s main public square. This page checked no current entry rules, so check them before you travel.
Lash the raft
The production notes put the escape across an island, a reef and a stage. Lash each bundle in and see what it gave the film. With all three tied, the raft floats.
0 of 3 bundles lashed
Three bundles of timber lie apart on the sand. Press one to lash it in.
Nothing tied yet.
Each bundle opens the place behind it.
Mamanuca Islands, Fiji
Live marketplace results for day trips from the Mamanucas that pass Monuriki. Check each itinerary before you book, since some visit other islands.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare tripsCulver City, Los Angeles
A two-hour guided walk round the working lot where the crew returned for stage work. Weekdays only; reservations required. Pictured: the Motor Gate, 2021.
See the tour
Welcome home
The “welcome home” scene was filmed at the FedEx Superhub in Memphis, Tennessee, in Hangar 21.
The crew worked alongside about 1,200 FedEx employees. FedEx founder Fred Smith makes a cameo, and the company gave the production extensive support.
Principal photography wrapped in Canadian, Texas, in May 2000, nearly a year and a half after it began in Moscow.
An operating air-freight hub, not open to visitors. This page checked no tour. The photograph shows the hub’s aircraft.
Landfall
Red Square, Canadian and the Sony tour are open to visit; Monuriki and the surf islands are reached by boat or by arrangement. The FedEx hub is an operating airport hub, and the Arrington ranch is private land, so the ranch is not pinned.
6 places to find in Russia, Fiji and the United States, and one private ranch named by its town.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
Site reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Moscow’s main public square. This page checked no current entry rules, so check them before you travel.
Moscow · Red Square, Moscow, Russia
Moscow was the production’s first international location, according to the production notes.
Moscow’s main public square. This page checked no current entry rules, so check them before you travel.
Stay
A resort on one of the two surfing islands the crew used as a base camp.
Tavarua Island, Fiji
A private island resort, one of the two surfing islands the crew used as base camp. Its site takes reservation enquiries rather than online bookings. Pictured: Tavarua from the air, 2005.
Send an enquiryGo there
A tour of the lot where the stage work was done, and boat trips from the Mamanucas.
Culver City, Los Angeles
A two-hour guided walk round the working lot where the crew returned for stage work. Weekdays only; reservations required. Pictured: the Motor Gate, 2021.
See the tourMamanuca Islands, Fiji
Live marketplace results for day trips from the Mamanucas that pass Monuriki. Check each itinerary before you book, since some visit other islands.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare tripsWhat’s on
Nothing dated for the film is listed at these places now.
No current dated events are listed. Check providers for the latest programme.
Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
7 of 7 places · 10 of 10 stories
Red Square, Moscow, Russia
Principal photography begins in Moscow, with Red Square closed completely for about a week.
Monu-riki, Mamanuca-i-Ra group, north-west Fiji
After a search from June 1998, the filmmakers choose Monu-riki as Chuck’s island.
About a year after the first part, the crew returns to Monu-riki for one week of filming.
The film is shot in two parts over 16 months, with a one-year break while Hanks transforms.
Tavarua Island, Fiji (Namotu lies close by)
Namotu and Tavarua serve as base camp and dock, and the nearby reef gives the right ocean for the escape.
The crew builds ten rafts and rigs and places cameras in the surf for the escape.
Sony Pictures Studios, Culver City, Los Angeles County, California
The crew goes back to Sony stages for effects that enhance the escape and the plane crash.
FedEx Hub, Memphis, Tennessee
The welcome-home scene is filmed in Hangar 21 beside about 1,200 FedEx employees.
Canadian, Hemphill County, Texas Panhandle
Principal photography wraps in Canadian, Texas, nearly a year and a half after Moscow.
Near Canadian, Texas
The Texas Film Commission records the final scenes at the Arrington ranch.
Places to stay
A notable hotel in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles · Source · Check dates on Expedia (Ad / affiliate)
The hotel from Pretty Woman.
90500 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, 90212 · Source · Check dates on Expedia (Ad / affiliate)
Where Whitney Houston died.
Santa Monica Boulevard, Beverly Hills, 90067 · Source · Check dates on Expedia (Ad / affiliate)
What’s on
Sony Pictures Studios · 50 m from Sony Pictures Studios
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Links go to each venue’s or organiser’s own site. Check dates, access and availability there before you go.
Every place in Cast Away leads somewhere else.
