Naman Shrestha
Inspired by the 1989 eponymous film, ‘Road House’ is an action movie led by Jake Gyllenhaal and supported by other talented actors Daniela Melchior, Conor McGregor, J. D. Pardo, Arturo Castro, and Billy Magnussen. With Doug Liman occupying the director’s chair, the film focuses on an ex-UFC middleweight fighter named Elwood Dalton who decides to work at a roadhouse in the Florida Keys as a bouncer. After working there for long enough, he finds out that things are drastically different from what they appear.
When Knox comes into the picture, Dalton’s job as a bouncer becomes a whole lot more difficult. Set in Florida, ‘Road House’ unfolds in a wide range of places, from the UFC octagon to the coastal bar in the Florida Keys. Such versatility when it comes to the visual aesthetic leads to several questions regarding the filming locations in the minds of various viewers.
Road House Filming Locations
‘Road House’ was taped in the states of Florida and Nevada as well as the Caribbean nation of Dominican Republic. Utilizing the creative genius of Cinematographer Henry Braham, the production team commenced production on August 23, 2022. While filming ended in a few months in November of the same year, the cast and crew gathered again in March 2023 to record some additional footage. Since the film is heavy on high-octane action and stunt sequences, the lead actor Jake Gyllenhaal underwent a physical transformation over two months to do justice to the director’s vision for the character of Elwood Dalton.
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Located on the southeastern edge of Hispaniola island in the West Indies, the vibrant metropolis of Santo Domingo was chosen as a filming location to enhance the cinematic storytelling of ‘Road House.’ From Santo Domingo de Guzmán to Ciudad Trujillo, the capital of the Dominican Republic has held several names throughout the years. The Ciudad Primada de América or First City of America fosters an eclectic blend of attractions and neighborhoods flaunting the old world charm as well as the contemporary wonders. Therefore, popular films like ‘The Killer,’ ‘xXx: Return of Xander Cage,’ and ‘Miami Vice’ were also shot in the region.
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
A popular resort town in the eastern part of the country, Punta Cana also lent several of its locations to the filmmakers to lens a number of scenes for the action movie. In April 2023, Conor McGregor and Jake Gyllenhaal appeared on Dax Shepard’s ‘Armchair Expert’ podcast, wherein the latter opened up about a shocking incident that transpired when the team was gathered at a bar to film a fight sequence. Jake said, “We’re fighting on the floor, fighting around tables, we’re fighting around glass…” and the next thing he knew, he had put his hand on “f***ing straight glass.”
The actor added, “I felt the glass going in my hand. I remember the feeling [and] went, ‘That’s a lot of glass.’” Explaining how he contracted a staph infection, he continued “My whole arm swelled up, and it ended up being staph.” However, he recovered with the help of the amazing team. “Gratefully, I was really, really trying to take care of everything that we did and my body while we were doing it. I didn’t sustain any major injuries,” Jake concluded.
Las Vegas, Nevada
A portion of the shooting of ‘Road House’ also took place on location in the gleaming oasis of Las Vegas in Nevada. In particular, the UFC 285 event at MGM Grand Garden Arena in March 2023 doubled up as a filming site for the scenes featuring a walkout and face-off sequence between Jake’s Elwood Dalton and Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter Jay Hieron’s character Jax Harris AKA Jetway. Alongside the cast, crew, UFC president Dana White, and announcer Jon Anik, it also saw several fans of the sport in attendance at the iconic arena on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise as they cheered the loudest during the taping of the scenes.
In an interview with Novastream, Jake spilled the beans on the shoot at 3799 South Las Vegas Boulevard and the events surrounding it. He said, “Yeah, we were scheduled to shoot at UFC 283. And the night before we went to do it, I got COVID. We were all basically there and then I couldn’t go ahead with it, so we had to cancel and wait two months for (UFC) 285 in Vegas. What they (the UFC) said to us was depending on the how long the undercards went the distance or not, we’d have anywhere between 45 seconds and seven minutes.”
He added, “So we had to make five different alternate plans as to how much time the UFC would grant us to be in the octagon!” Jake concluded, “…we focused on it like we were going to have all seven minutes. And they just said do the whole piece of the choreographed fight, and I thought, ‘Oh no. We’re going to do this in front of the whole UFC—all the fans and they’re gonna think this looks fake!'”
Marathon, Florida
Additional portions of ‘Road House’ were also taped in the city of Marathon, which is located in the Florida Keys. The cast and crew took over the Old Seven Mile Bridge in December 2022 so that they could capture Fred the Tree in its natural glory. In particular, one of the scenes in the beginning was taped on location, as Dalton can be seen passing the local landmark.
Read More: Best Movies About Boxing on Netflix
