Naman Shrestha
With Yuval Adler at the helm, ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ is a psychological thriller movie that focuses on a young man who is forced to drive a mysterious passenger as he is being held at gunpoint. With no other options in sight, the driver must do what he is told by the passenger, no matter how outrageous and ridiculous the actions might sound. Looking for a way out of the situation, the driver realizes that he is in the middle of a deadly game of cat and mouse where nothing is clear and not everything is as it seems.
Featuring a talented ensemble cast comprising Nicolas Cage, Joel Kinnaman, Kaiwi Lyman, Cameron Lee Price, Rich Hopkins, and Alexis Zollicoffer, the action film unfolds in the city of Las Vegas with vibrant lights and some popular local attractions filling up the backdrop of several action-packed sequences. So, did the shooting for the movie take place on location? If you have the same kinds of questions regarding the filming sites of ‘Sympathy for the Devil,’ allow us to get rid of your curiosity!
Where Was Sympathy for the Devil Filmed?
‘Sympathy for the Devil’ was filmed in Nevada, especially in and around Las Vegas. Principal photography for the thriller film commenced in late July 2022 and wrapped up in about four weeks or so, in late August of the same year. Now, let’s get in the backseat of the car and get a detailed account of all the specific locations where the driver is made to take Nicolas Cage’s character in the movie!
Las Vegas, Nevada
Also known as the Sin City, Las Vegas served as the primary production location for ‘Sympathy for the Devil.’ As per reports, approximately half the movie’s shooting took place in Vū Las Vegas at 901 Grier Drive in Las Vegas, which is home to one of the largest LED volumes in the world. Interestingly enough, the action thriller film turned out to be the first feature film in Nevada history to be shot on an LED sound stage. The 40,000-square-foot studio is home to two sound stages and an LED Dome. These modern amenities make Vū Las Vegas a suitable filming site for different kinds of productions. Given the short time and limited budget that they had, the movie wouldn’t be what it is without the amazing LED setup in the film studio.
The LED volume of the film studio was put to significant usage as the production team of ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ captured 40 to 50 pages of the script within the volume itself. However, before recording anything there, the filming unit had to plan the right routes on real-life locations and capture the correct turns. For instance, they paid a visit to several local landmarks including The Strip and Fremont Street in Las Vegas, and shot several exterior scenes. Reportedly, they only had a couple of nights to capture all the driving plates.
After getting done with the plate shoot, the director and his team taped the remaining exteriors and then took the production to the studio to shoot scenes involving the actors and the main vehicle. In a March 2023 interview with The American Society of Cinematographers, the cinematographer of ‘Sympathy for the Devil,’ Steven Holleran, stated, “There were a few scenes where the car pulls over, and we shot some of those exterior scenes within the volume and then mixed in some footage captured on location.”
