Where was Contact filmed?
1997 film by Robert Zemeckis
Contact (1997) was filmed in California Institute of Technology, Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, West Hollywood, Socorro, Arecibo Observatory and 5 more places, 11 places named in its Wikipedia article, in the United States, Puerto Rico. Wikidata itself records the shoot only as Arizona, Florida, New Mexico. A sentence in an article is weaker evidence than a statement, and every claim on this page says which it is.
See them on the map → Wikipedia Source data
Places per Wikipedia's article
The article names 11 places. A sentence in an article is weaker evidence than a Wikidata statement, so these are listed apart, never mixed into the statement list, and the claim links straight to where it came from.
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🎬 Studios & sets
Culver Studios
🇺🇸 United States
movie studio
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🎬 Studios & sets
The Lot at Formosa
🇺🇸 United States
Hollywood backlot
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🏙 Towns & cities
West Hollywood
🇺🇸 United States
city in Los Angeles County, California, United States
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🏛 Landmarks & buildings
Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array
🇺🇸 United States
radio astronomy observatory located on the Plains of San Agustin
“One example being that, despite having 27 radio telescopes, the VLA is actually smaller and less sensitive than the Arecibo Observatory—making Arecibo a better location for SETI work, if possibly a less photogenic filming location than the VLA.” Wikipedia
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🏛 Landmarks & buildings
Arecibo Observatory
🇵🇷 Puerto Rico
observatory located in the municipality of Arecibo, Puerto Rico
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🏛 Landmarks & buildings
Kennedy Space Center
🇺🇸 United States
US space launch site in Florida
“Zemeckis and the production crew also made several visits to the Kennedy Space Center at Merritt Island adjacent to Cape Canaveral, where officials gave them access to sites off-limits to most visitors.” Wikipedia
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🏙 Towns & cities
Merritt Island
🇺🇸 United States
census designated place in Brevard County, Florida, United States
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🏛 Landmarks & buildings
California Institute of Technology
🇺🇸 United States
private research university located in Pasadena, California, USA
“Also essential to the production were a host of technical consultants from the SETI Institute, the California Institute of Technology, the VLA and a former White House staff member to consult on Washington, D.C., and government protocol issues.” Wikipedia
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🏙 Towns & cities
Socorro
🇺🇸 United States
city in and county seat of Socorro County, New Mexico, United States
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🏙 Towns & cities
Saint John
🇺🇸 United States
one of the main islands of the United States Virgin Islands
“Other second-unit work took place in Fiji, Saint John, US Virgin Islands and Newfoundland, Canada.” Wikipedia
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🏞 Landscapes & nature
Cape Canaveral
🇺🇸 United States
cape on the Atlantic coast of Florida in the United States
Places whose own article says it was shot there
1 place whose own Wikipedia article names this film as something shot there, where Wikidata records nothing and this film’s own article does not say so either. The weakest evidence on this atlas: no pin on the map, and nothing in the downloads. Each sentence is quoted whole and linked to the article it came from, so it can be judged rather than taken on trust.
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National Radio Astronomy Observatory United States
“Located on the New Mexico Tech university campus, the AOC serves as the headquarters for the Very Large Array (VLA), which was the setting for the 1997 movie Contact, and is also the control center for the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA).” Wikipedia
Recorded only at country level
Wikidata also records this film as shot in Arizona, Florida, New Mexico, without saying where. Those statements are true but unmappable — a pin in the middle of a country would claim something nobody wrote — so they are listed here instead of guessed at.
Filming locations that are mapped there: United States
Also shot in these places
- Gone with the Wind 1939
- A Few Good Men 1992
- The Last Boy Scout 1991
- Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die 2025
- Apollo 13 1995
- Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore 1974
Frequently asked questions
How many filming locations does Contact have?
No place recorded on Wikidata, but 11 places named in its Wikipedia article, labelled per Wikipedia.
Which other productions were filmed at the same places?
Gone with the Wind (1939), A Few Good Men (1992), The Last Boy Scout (1991), Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die (2025) and 2 more, each listed on this page.
Where does this information come from?
Filming location statements on Wikidata, plus places named in the production's own Wikipedia article, which are labelled per Wikipedia. Nothing is scraped from listicles and nothing is generated.