20 movies that take place in a fictional city

At this point, Gotham is such a part of pop culture it almost feels real. We’re glad it’s fictional because it seems like an awfully dark and stressful place to live. Not even a superhero can fix that. 

The Wizard of Oz starts in a very real place, but it doesn’t take long to move to a very fictional place, Oz. Eventually, Dorothy and crew find themselves in the Emerald City, which seems to be everything Kansas isn’t. But as Dorothy eventually learns, there’s no place like home.  

No need to worry. Amity Island is not real. The place where the movie was filmed is real and quite a tourist destination. Jaws was filmed all around spots on Martha’s Vineyard, which you can visit today if you feel inclined. 

It’s quite common for Disney movies to take place in fictional cities, and Aladdin is no exception. Despite being based on real places, Agrabah, the city that Aladdin takes place in, does not exist. And like many fictional cities, we’re glad it’s fake because we don't want anything to do with Jafar.

Asteroid City isn’t a real city, either. It’s a fictional place set in the Southwest. If anyone is forming a new city, they should call Wes Anderson for aesthetic consulting. The town could survive on tourism revenue alone. 

The town in The Family Stone seems real enough, but it doesn’t exist. It’s a fictional small town in New England. It seems rather idyllic, and we can totally see why the Stones would want to live there. 

One Hundred and One Dalmatians takes place in England, but the specific village, Dinsford, isn’t real. Aside from hosting a villainous fashionista and her ruthless sidekicks, Dinsford doesn’t seem like too bad of a place to live. We wouldn’t want to be neighbors with people who own 101 dogs, though. 

Though Crystal Lake, New Jersey is not real, some filming locations from Friday the 13th are in real New Jersey towns, like Blairstown and Hardwick Township. But fear not: Jason Voorhees is fictional. He will not lurk around New Jersey should you visit the aforementioned filming locations. 

Many of the places in Forrest Gump are very real, like Savannah and New York City, but the town where Forrest and Jenny grow up — Greenbow, Alabama — is not real. The scenes in that city were filmed in Varnville, South Carolina, and you can still visit the filming locations. 

Unfortunately, Christmas Town is not a real place. If it were, it would be the most magical town in the universe. The picturesque snow and singular city block are the stuff of dreams before Christmas, not nightmares. Who could blame Jack Skellington for being so enamored with the place?

Obviously, no place in the Flintstones universe is real, but if we had to live in the Stone Age, we’d want to live in Rock Vegas. Though it doesn’t look as fabulous as Las Vegas, Rock Vegas seems like a lot of fun. And if you’re going to live in the Stone Age, you might as well have a little debauchery at your disposal. 

Nope, there is no such place as Silver Creek, Colorado. And like so many others, we’ve often wondered why James Caan’s character chose the town as his writing spot anyway. Had he picked a better town, he might not have been kidnapped and brutally assaulted by a psychotic former nurse. 

Don’t Worry Darling takes place in the fictional city of Victory, but if it’s at all attractive to you, just visit Palm Springs. Most of the movie was filmed in the California desert town. You won’t be able to stay at the homes where the movie was filmed, but you can rent something else to fully live out your Don’t Worry Darling fantasy. 

Considering how mindblowing the plot of The Matrix is, we think Mega City could’ve had a better name. But hey, who are we to criticize what many consider one of the best movies of all time?

We know that what happens in A Nightmare on Elm Street can’t happen in real life, but some comfort comes with knowing that the town where the film takes place isn’t real, either. Many cities have an Elm Street, and we’ll always be a little wary of those roads. 

It’s very clear that the setting of Avatar is fictional, but what a beautiful fictional world it is. If visiting Pandora were an option, we’d be the first to go. No matter during the day or at night, Pandora is a sight to behold. 

We desperately wish Halloweentown were a real place. A town dedicated to the holiday with a giant pumpkin in the middle? Sign us up. The closest we’ve got to Halloweentown in the real world is Salem, Massachusetts, but there aren’t any gigantic pumpkins there.

Stand By Me takes place in the fictional city of Castle Rock, but many of the scenes were filmed in Brownsville, Oregon. Filmmakers even recruited some of the town’s locals as extras for the film. Let that be a lesson to us all. If a movie is being shot locally, be an extra. You might just be a small part of a significant mention in film history. 

It’s objectively funny that films like Deck the Halls are set in fictional cities. It could’ve taken place in a real town, but instead, the writers put it in the made-up Cloverdale, Massachusetts. What’s that about?

Like so many movies before and after it, Back to the Future is set in a fictional city called Hill Valley, but it was filmed in real spots around Los Angeles. There’s even a filming locations map for the movie available for people who like Back to the Future and film sets.