Nishitha Dutta
‘News of The World’ is a 2020 American western drama directed by Paul Greengrass. The movie narrates the story of a Civil War veteran, Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Tom Hanks) endowed with a mission to return a 10-year-old girl (Helena Zengel) to her family several miles away near San Antonio, Texas. The biggest challenge for Captain Kidd is the kids’ hostility and inability to speak English as they pave a journey against conflicts and alarming unpredictability at every step.
Set against expansive landscapes and imagery reminiscent of HBO’s ‘Westworld,’ appearing almost dreary and desolate, the story is mostly narrated through its visuals. As seen in the trailer, the shots skim through different locations with an old western vibe floating in its atmosphere. So where was the movie filmed? Let’s find out.
News of The World Filming Locations
‘News of The World’ went into development on or around February 8, 2019, and was pushed to a pre-production state around April 2019. It finally started filming on September 2, 2019, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The filming reportedly wrapped up in or around November 2020. Let’s get into specific details!
New Mexico
The movie was filmed extensively in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Santa Fe is a rapidly growing filming site with major productions like ‘Independence Day’, ‘Terminator: Salvation‘, ‘Manhattan’, and ‘Breaking Bad‘ to its credit. Santa Fe is also thriving as a favored tourist spot because of its ranches flowering across the limitless stretch of desert that covers the location. The production team of ‘News of The World’ tied up with the New Mexico State Film Office to create the movie.
The filming continued throughout November, as stated by the New Mexico Film Office. The industry reputedly connects movie producers with their crew, retail services, and other collaborations over the state. Hence, the movie wholeheartedly employed more than 200 New Mexico crew members and 25 New Mexico actors.
The New Mexico State Film Office continues to invite considerable A-list productions which have been highly progressive for the Santa Fe economy and workers, as stated by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. Cabinet Secretary Alicia J. Keyes also welcomed co-producer and actor Tom Hanks to their steadily growing business and acknowledged their professional crew, unique locations, and competitive incentives.
Talking about the filming process, Dariusz Wolski, the cinematographer, stated the difficulties involved in creating a Western themed movie because they exist innumerably most of which also appear very picturesque. He further stated his desire to produce something relatable to the contemporary audience with its essence still deeply rooted in the West.
Santa Fe has always given filmmakers the ease, comfort, and assistance they require for a movie shoot. Apart from Western-themed movies, producers from different backgrounds have shot movies with completely different plots. Action movies like ‘The Avengers‘ and ‘Transformers‘ were also filmed in the deserts of Sante Fe.
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