Top 5 Movies Filmed in Marfa, Texas by US Box Office   

Spread the love!

Lights, Camera, Marfa! Discover the Magic of Movie Filming Locations in the Lone Star State!

Lights, camera, action! So you’re a movie buff, huh? Well, get ready to embark on an epic adventure through the charming city of Marfa, Texas. Now, before you write this off as just another sleepy little town, let me tell you something – Marfa is a hidden gem brimming with cinematic treasures!

Key Takeaways:

  • Marfa may be a small town, but it’s a big-time player in the movie industry. Countless movies have been filmed amidst its picturesque landscapes and quirky charm.
  • Visiting movie filming locations is like stepping into the scenes of your favorite films. You can imagine yourself as the star, sipping coffee at the same café or strolling down the very street where magic happened.
  • Exploring Marfa’s movie locations gives you a unique perspective on both the city and the films themselves. You’ll gain a deeper appreciation for the art of moviemaking and go home with a newfound passion for cinema.

Now, why would you want to visit movie filming locations, you ask? Well, my fellow adventurer, it’s simple – because it’s downright fun! Imagine yourself standing in the exact spot where your favorite actor nailed that dramatic monologue or lounging in an iconic café booth where Hollywood heavyweights once plotted their adventures. It’s like stepping into the silver screen and becoming part of the reel deal!

In Marfa, you can indulge in your own movie star fantasies and create memories that will make your friends green with envy. Snap selfies in front of famous landmarks, recreate your favorite film scenes, and channel your inner Spielberg as you capture the magic of Marfa.

But wait, there’s more! Exploring movie filming locations in Marfa doesn’t just offer the chance to play make-believe. It’s also an excellent way to discover the city itself. As you visit each filming spot, you’ll uncover new corners of Marfa, from its vibrant art scene to its delicious culinary offerings.

Want some examples? How about visiting the iconic Hotel Paisano, where the legendary James Dean stayed during the production of “Giant.” Or channel your inner cowboy at the historic Ranch Club, where scenes from the classic movie “No Country for Old Men” were shot. Oh, and don’t forget to swing by the Chinati Foundation, an art mecca that has served as the backdrop for several indie films.

So, dear reader, are you ready to embark on this cinematic journey through Marfa? Pack your sense of adventure, your favorite movie quotes, and an extra dose of curiosity. The lights, camera, and action await you in this Texan paradise.

Now, let’s stop reading about movies and start living them! Explore the movies filmed in Marfa, Texas and uncover the secrets of these legendary filming locations. Get ready for a journey that’s both reel and real – and remember to call “action” on your own unforgettable adventure! Lights, camera, Marfa!

No Country for Old Men – US Box Office: USD$74,283,625

Director: Ethan Coen & Joel Coen

Main Cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Woody Harrelson, Kelly Macdonald, Tess Harper, Barry Corbin, and Stephen Root

Release Date: November 21, 2007  

Filming Locations: Desert Sands Motor Hotel – 5000 Central Avenue Southeast, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA; Marfa, Texas, USA; Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA; El Camino Motel & Restaurant – 1152 North Grand Avenue, Las Vegas, New Mexico, USA; Las Vegas, New Mexico, USA; Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

Main Plot: Welder and hunter Llewelyn Moss uncovers the remains of several drug traffickers who killed each other in a violent exchange in rural Texas. Rather than document the discovery to the police, Bracken immediately takes the two million dollar present for himself. This puts the psychopathic killer Anton Chigurh on his tail as he murders nearly every competitor, spectator, and boss. To pursue his quarry and the money. As Chigurh closes in on Moss, the blood from this search begins to pour behind him with ceaselessly increasing intensity. In the meantime, the laconic Sheriff Ed Tom Bell blithely supervises the investigation while struggling to comprehend the enormity of the crimes he is attempting to prevent.

Famous quotes:

Loretta Bell: “Be careful.”

Ed Tom Bell: “I always am.”

Loretta Bell: “Don’t get hurt.”

Ed Tom Bell: “I never do.”

Loretta Bell: “Don’t hurt no one.”

Fun Facts about No Country for Old Men:

  • In the opening narration, Bell mentions the deputies of two other Texas counties, Jim Scarborough and Gaston Boykins. Scarborough and Boykins were, in fact, the sheriffs of such counties at the time the film is set.
  • With his victory at the 80th Academy Awards, Javier Bardem became the first Spanish performer to win an Oscar. 
  • Most of the film was captured in Las Vegas, New Mexico (not Las Vegas, Nevada). Tommy Lee Jones persuaded directors Joel and Ethan Coen to shoot some scenes in West Texas on location.

There Will Be Blood – US Box Office: USD$40,222,514

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Main Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Ciarán Hinds, Martin Stringer, Matthew Braden Stringer, and Joseph Mussey

Release Date: January 25, 2008 

Filming Locations: Lompoc, California, USA; Marfa, Texas, USA; Thornewood Castle – 8601 N. Thorne Lane SW, Lakewood, Washington, USA;  El Mirage Dry Lake, California, USA; Greystone Park & Mansion – 905 Loma Vista Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA;  Shafter, Texas, USA

Main Plot: Daniel Plainview, a vicious gold digger who converted petroleum into light, moves to the oil-rich state of California. Plainview duped local landowners into surrendering him their beautiful estates at a pittance by presenting a respectable, family-man image through his adoptive child. On the other hand, local pastor Eli Sunday suspects Plainview’s motives and plans, sparking a slow-burning rivalry that threatens both of their lives. The local televangelist and identity faith healer wants the proceeds from the property sale to fund his church. Daniel squirts oil off the estate and tries to obtain all the adjacent countryside. At bargain prices to build a pipeline to the coast, and Eli tries to make him possess a religious empire, their lives frequently collide.

Famous quotes:

Eli Sunday: “Why are you talking about Paul?”

Plainview: “I did what your brother couldn’t.”

Eli Sunday: “Don’t say this to me.”

Plainview: “I broke you and I beat you. It was Paul who told me about you. He’s the prophet. He’s the smart one. He knew what was there and he found me to take it out of the ground, and you know what the funny thing is? Listen… listen… listen… I paid him ten thousand dollars, cash in hand, just like that. He has his own company now.”

Plainview: “Stop crying, you sniveling ass! Stop your nonsense. You’re just afterbirth, Eli.”

Fun Facts about There Will Be Blood:

  • The Guardian’s selection of the 100 best Movies of the Twenty-First Century ranked it first.
  • In 2008, it was listed #51 on Entertainment Daily’s list of “100 New Movie Classics.”
  • The opening scene, with the enormous mountains and bad scores surging above them, is evocative of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980).

Flesh and Bone – US Box Office: USD$9,709,451

Director:  Steve Kloves

Main Cast: Dennis Quaid, Meg Ryan, James Caan, Julia McNeal, Ron Kuhlman, and Jerry Swindall

Release Date: November 5, 1993

Filming Locations: Monahans, Texas, USA; Stanton, Texas, USA; Taylor, Texas, USA; Marfa, Texas, USA; Wimberley, Texas, USA; 16493 Cameron Road, Pflugerville, Texas, USA

Main Plot: The son of a serial murderer fell in love with a girl whose family’s horrible murder he witnessed as a child. Arlis stumbles into Kay, the family’s baby who was spared thirty years after he overheard his father killing a family. Kay and Arlis have no suspicions regarding each other. However, when his father visits, old scars revive. While assisting his thief father in robbing a house in rural Texas, a young Arlis Sweeney witnesses his father murdering the entire family, having left only a crying baby. Let’s fast forward 30 years. Arlis has developed a bleak routine of restocking vending machines along a route that includes “a where to eat, a place to sleep, and a woman” in every grimy roadside town. Kay Davies, another broken soul down on her good fortune and trapped away from her family and her violent and aggressive ne’er-do-well husband, enters this routine.

Famous quotes:

Kay: “You got a pretty face, you should let the boys see it.”

Ginnie: “It ain’t my face the boys want to see.”

Kay: “I figure the bed’s one of those vibrating numbers, so that explains all the quarters. Nobody could possibly fancy pretzel twists that much so I reckon you won some kinda weird contest. ”

Waitress: “Unless that little pastry inside comes with a bicycle pump and two sisters, there ain’t gonna be a farm animal safe for three counties tonight.”

Kay: “I wanna celebrate. I feel free.”

Sequel: Flesh and Bone 2015 

Fun Facts about Flesh and Bone:

  • At the time of filming, Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid were married. They married in 1991 but split in 2001.
  • Producer Mark Rosenberg suffered a cardiac arrest on the set of Stanton, Texas, at the age of forty-four. He is honored in the film.
  • This is Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid’s third and final film collaboration (as of August 2018). 

Sylvester – US Box Office: USD$385,687

Director: Tim Hunter

Main Cast: Richard Farnsworth, Melissa Gilbert, Michael Schoeffling, Constance Towers, Yankton Hatten, and Shane Serwin

Release Date: March 15, 1985 

Filming Locations: Marfa, Texas, USA; Alpine, Texas, USA; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Fort Davis, Texas, USA; Balmorhea, Texas, USA

Main Plot: The story is about Charlie, a 16-year-old illegitimate child who cannot support himself and her two younger brothers. He sets out to train a rogue horse named Sylvester and transform him into a track and field champion. Charlie is doing her best to provide for herself and her two siblings by breaking horses in a Texas stockyard. She chooses to alter her finest bronco after losing her job. Sylvester turned a good profit by preparing him for three events. But, because she knows so little about dressage and show-jumping, she’ll need the assistance of her old boss, an ex-cavalryman, to be ready for competition.

Famous quotes:

Grant: “I don’t want to go to Oklahoma either. There’s nothing but trash in Oklahoma.”

Grant: “They don’t even know how to play football…”

Grant: “Lord, bless this food and say hi to Mom & Dad. And bring me a 12-gauge if you can. Amen.”

Foster: “A horse has got less IQ than a hog, he’s less efficient than a bicycle and a lot more expensive than a floozy.”

Foster: “I love a mule.”

Fun Facts about Sylvester:

  • Sylvester Stallone inspired the horse’s name. Stallone authorized them to use his trademark with the animal seven times.
  • Kim Walnes, on her pony “The Gray Goose,” was Melissa Gilbert and Sylvester Metz’s doubles for the Lexington riding course in 1984.
  • Kim Walnes and her horse “The Gray Goose” finished third in the 1984 Olympic Qualification Trials and were named the reserve team for the Los Angeles Olympics.

Results – US Box Office: USD$104,507

Director: Andrew Bujalski

Main Cast: Guy Pearce, Cobie Smulders, Giovanni Ribisi, Kevin Corrigan, Elizabeth Berridge, and Tishuan Scott

Release Date: May 29, 2015 

Filming Locations: Marfa, Texas, USA;  Austin, Texas, USA; New York City, New York, USA

Main Plot: Danny, who is recently divorced, suddenly wealthy, and sad, is evidence that money cannot buy happiness. Danny’s well-funded melancholy is shattered by a pivotal visit to the neighborhood gym. He encounters self-proclaimed guru/owner Trevor and delightfully acerbic trainer Kat. Their three lives become closely linked, both professionally and personally, soon. It doesn’t help that they’ve slept with each other, and he still has feelings for her. Her irreconcilable rage threatens the gym’s relationship with Danny, a wealthy new customer played by Kevin Corrigan. Trevor’s efforts to calm the situation are jeopardized when he gives in to his feelings instead. Despite their best efforts, neither can truly move on. Trevor seems too significant a financial liability to turn back from. The lack of clarity about something else with Kat endangers a deep impact on their lives.

Famous quotes:

Elwood: It’s 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it’s dark… and we’re wearing sunglasses.

Danny: “Did I have a shot with you? This is sort of important.”

Kat: “Uh… well, I think you’re awesome, but the short answer is no”.

Danny: “What’s… what’s the long answer?”

Kat: “Noooooooooooooooooooooooo”
Kat: “Trevor you have no idea what’s going on in your own brain”

Fun Facts about Results:

  • During filming, Cobie Smulders was five months pregnant.
  • In actual life, Elizabeth Berridge, who portrays Christine as Danny’s fiance, is remarried to Kevin Corrigan. 
  • In this film, Guy Pearce (Trevor) becomes a fitness instructor. In real life, he was bodybuilding. He won the Young Mr. Victoria bodybuilding competition when he was 15.

Spread the love!

Scroll to Top