Culture
The Geography of Box Office Success
In honor of the Oscars, we tried mapping where 2014's biggest movies were set and shot. What we learned surprised us.
Many great films draw inspiration and drama from the places in which they are set. Imagine Chinatown, Taxi Driver, or Lost in Translation taking place anywhere besides Los Angeles, New York, and Tokyo. If filmmaking, as film critic Mark Cousins has put it, is “the art of making us feel that we’re there,” then movie settings could hardly be more important.
So as Hollywood gets ready to celebrate itself at Sunday’s 87th Annual Academy Awards, I thought it would be both fun and interesting to examine how a film’s setting may or may not affect its financial fortunes and critical reception.