Wadi Rum, Jordan — The Martian (2015) -- Wadi Rum's rust-red sandstone valleys, carved by wind and flash floods over millions of years, gave The Martian its Ares III crash site and much of Mark Watney's solo survival footage. The terrain is close enough to Mars analog sites that NASA itself has used Wadi Rum for astronaut training and rover testing, which is part of why it keeps recurring in space cinema. [Philippe Turpin / Photononstop via AFP]
Vatnajökull Glacier, Iceland — Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) -- Iceland's Vatnajökull ice cap stood in for the First Order's snow-covered superweapon planet in The Force Awakens; its crevasses and ice caves hosted the film's climactic lightsaber duel between Kylo Ren and Rey. [Karen Deakin / Robert Harding RF / AFP]
Wadi Rum, Jordan — Dune (2021) -- The same valley returned six years later as Arrakis. Denis Villeneuve's production also shot in Abu Dhabi's Liwa desert for the sietch and worm-riding sequences, but Wadi Rum supplied the exteriors most associated with House Atreides' arrival — the same washes and dune faces recognizable from The Martian, filmed at a different time of day and with a different color grade to feel alien rather than merely remote. [Philippe Turpin / Photononstop via AFP]
Svínafellsjökull Glacier, Iceland — Interstellar (2014) -- This outlet glacier of the Vatnajökull ice cap became Dr. Mann's frozen planet — chosen for its literal, not simulated, hostility: cracking ice, sub-zero winds, and crevasse fields the crew had to navigate with safety teams. Iceland's volcanic-glacial landscape, since reshaped further by glacial retreat, also appears in Rogue One, Batman Begins, and Prometheus. [Carlo Alberto Conti / Robert Harding RF / AFP]
Chott el-Djerid / Tozeur region, Tunisia — Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) -- Luke Skywalker's home was built here — the Lars family homestead was constructed near Nefta, using Berber-style architecture from nearby Matmata for interiors. Tunisia's salt-flat-and-desert combination gave Tatooine its distinct double-sunset horizon shots. [Fethi Belaid / AFP]
Tunisian desert — assorted sci-fi productions -- Beyond Star Wars, Tunisia's dune fields near Tozeur and Douz have hosted The English Patient, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and parts of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and The Phantom Menace — production infrastructure built up around Ong Jemal has made this one of the most reused sci-fi backlots on Earth outside a studio. [Dominika Zarzycka / NurPhoto / AFP]
Fort Macleod, Alberta, Canada — Interstellar (2014) -- Christopher Nolan shot the Cooper family farm sequences here, reportedly planting roughly 500 acres of real corn specifically for the production. The blight-stricken Earth of the film's opening act needed genuine Midwestern-style farmland, and southern Alberta supplied it. [Artur Widak / NurPhoto / AFP]
Death Valley National Park, California — Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) -- Death Valley provided several Tatooine locations shot in quick succession — Mesquite Flat dunes, Golden Canyon (where the Jawas capture R2-D2), and Twenty Mule Team Canyon (reused in Return of the Jedi for the road to Jabba's palace). [Richard Cummins / Robert Harding Premium / AFP]
Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia — Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) -- The world's largest salt flat — over 10,000 square kilometers of near-perfectly flat crust atop a prehistoric lakebed — became Crait, the mineral-white planet where the Resistance made its final stand. The film's signature shot, red mineral dust kicked up against blinding white salt, was achieved practically, by cutting through Uyuni's surface crust to the reddish clay layer beneath, rather than through visual effects alone. [Laura Grier / Robert Harding RF / AFP]