The Sandra Bullock–Channing Tatum rom-com The Lost City is part of a specific sub-genre of Hollywood films, the “stuffy lady learns to loosen up while on an exotic adventure” film. Romancing The Stone, The African Queen, George of the Jungle, Crocodile Dundee… I guess when you’re thrust into unfamiliar territory you learn to embrace chaos or something.
In The Lost City, Bullock plays Loretta Sage, a reclusive author who is kidnapped while on a book tour and is forced to help find a hidden treasure on a remote island somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. And in this film, the fictional “Lost City” that gives Bullock the adventure of her life is meant to be located on a remote, hidden jungle island, though the film was shot almost entirely on location in the Dominican Republic.
Where was The Lost City filmed?
The Lost City was filmed all over the Dominican Republic, with many of the country’s natural landscapes appearing prominently in the film. The waterfall that appears in the film is called Salto de Socoa, which is located in Los Haitises National Park near the country’s capital, Santo Domingo. Village scenes in the film were shot in Altos de Chavón near the resort of Casa de Campo, which was built to look like a replica of a 16th century town. Beach scenes were shot in the coastal towns of Las Terrenas and Portillo. And for the titular Lost City of D, where the stars near their treasure, caves located in Los Haitises National Park stood in for the grotto in the film, as well as the Iguabonita Cave located in the Scape Park at Cap Cana were used.
And while most of the film was shot using real locations, there were certain scenes that necessitated being shot in a studio. For those, a fully equipped sound stage located at Pinewood Dominican Republic Studios, known for its water tanks and water effects, was used to film some of the movie’s water scenes, including those at the grotto in the Lost City of D.
The Lost City is available on demand and on Paramount+.
