Five filming locations in Manchester

Manchester has always been a chameleon city, changing and evolving over time. But it can also change rapidly when Hollywood descends.

Here are five places you can visit today that have made it from our soggy streets to the silver screen.

Dale Street – Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

With Captain America: Brave New World hitting cinemas, you can revisit the series’ roots, where Chris Evans ran barefoot in pursuit of a Hydra spy. The red brick area near the Northern Quarter was doubling for New York City.

Stevenson Square – Morbius (2022)

The widely panned Morbius, starring Jared Leto as the titular vampire, filmed multiple scenes in Manchester, again doubling for New York.

Chinatown – Lazarus (Release date tbc)

Manchester’s filming pedigree is always bubbling below the surface. Last year, in Chinatown, cameras were spotted filming Lazarus, a new Amazon Prime Series. It stars Bill Nighy as the titular Doctor Lazarus. The series is slated for release in 2025.

For more details on this, you can read Thomas Bryden’s article from last year here.

Manchester Town Hall – Sherlock Holmes (2009)

Admittedly, you can’t see very much inside or outside of Manchester Town Hall at the moment, as it is covered up for major refurbishment. But this didn’t stop the filming of Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes in 2008. The inside of the building is used for scenes set in parliament.

John Rylands – Darkest Hour (2017)

As one of the city’s most striking buildings, it’s hardly surprising that John Rylands has been used in films. A recent example being Darkest Hour, starring Gary Oldman. Similar to Sherlock Holmes, the gothic library doubled as the houses of parliament during key scenes in the film.