Movies Filmed At Universal Studios Hollywood | Favorite Sets & Must-See Spots

by Theme Park Center September 29, 2021

Universal Studios Hollywood is more than a theme park, it's one of the most legendary and historic movie studios in the world. Some of the most classic and memorable films in history were shot there as well as more recent blockbuster hits.

Some movies filmed at Universal Studios Hollywood include Back to the Future, Jurassic Park, Psycho, War of the Worlds, The Amazing Spider-Man and dozens of others!

We're sharing more fan favorite movies filmed at Universal Studios Hollywood as well as where exactly you might be able to see parts of the set along with pictures and videos of these locations!

paris street film set

TIP: If you'll be visiting Universal Studios, The World-Famous Studio Tour is the best way to catch a glimpse at where these movies were filmed!

Back to the Future

Courthouse Square is home to the iconic Hill Valley clock tower seen throughout Back To The Future.

The Courthouse Square portion of the Universal Studios Hollywood was extensively used while filming Back To The Future and it's not hard at all to recognize this location in the film!

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York

When watching Home Alone 2: Lost in New York it's nearly impossible to see that large portions of the film were shot at the sunny Universal Studios backlot in California instead of snowy New York!

Dozens of scenes were filmed at the Brownstone Street and New York Street portions of the backlot.

new york street universal studios hollywood

How The Grinch Stole Christmas

Up until late-2020 you could actually see and visit the elaborate Whoville at Universal Studios Hollywood!

Unfortunately the set was demolished to make way for new filming locations, but the video below takes you on a ride passed Whoville.

Inception

Christopher Nolan's mind bending film Inception was also partially filmed at Universal Studios.

The Falls Lake set on the backlot was used for multiple water sequences, though it's nearly impossible to make out because of heavy effects and background editing.

Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park might just be the most iconic movie filmed at Universal Studios Hollywood, but most of it was filmed inside sound stages meaning most of the set locations are unrecognizable.

Though It is fun to imagine how an empty warehouse was transformed into a tropical island or laboratory running rampant with prehistoric dinosaurs!

If you'd truly like to see locations from Jurassic Park then the Hawaiian island of Kauai is where you'll want to go!

Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood

Western Street was heavily used in scenes for Quentin Tarantino's Oscar winning film Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood.

The film's main character Rick Dalton is seen in the movie filming a western tv show and almost the entirety of these sequences were filmed on Western Street.

western street universal studios hollywood

You've probably seen Western Street in dozens of other tv shows and movies, but don't even know it! It's quite an iconic filming location and Quentin Tarantino has used it on multiple locations.

Pirates of the Caribbean

Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean was also used the Universal Studios Hollywood backlot! We know what you're thinking... why would Disney film at Universal Studios?

Well sometimes a specific location or set is booked by another production or quite simply, the competing studio may just have the best facility for the job!

Pirates of the Caribbean was actually filmed at multiple locations across Universal's backlot, but most were heavily edited and hard to recognize in the film including Falls Lake and Mexican Street.

Psycho

The thriller classic Psycho from Albert Hitchcock has one of the most easily recognizable set pieces at Universal Studios.

The entire Bates Motel set and Psycho House still stands today!

Transformers

Not only is there a Transformers ride at Universal Studios Hollywood, part of the movie was filmed there as well!

Most of the production at that took place at Universal utilized a heavily edited New York Street for many of the epic battles that took place between these massive robots.

Just try to image what New York street might have looked like during production (hint: less robots, more blue screens!).

The Amazing Spider-Man

Once again filmmakers turned to sunny California to film New York -- this time for The Amazing Spider-Man.

Multiple scenes utilized New York Street thought plenty of the film was also filmed on location in New York!

War of the Worlds

A massive plane crash was created just for Stephen Spielberg's remake of War of the Worlds.

No amount of words can describe just how massive and elaborate this set is and best of all, it's still part of the backlot tour at Universal Studios Hollywood today.

Countless work hours, hundreds of thousands of dollars all culminated in a three day shoot on this massive set.