UBC is one of the most filmed universities in the world (PHOTOS)

Jan 18 2023, 10:01 pm

Vancouver’s more than earned the moniker “Hollywood North,” but the UBC Campus, in particular, is an attractive place for filmmakers to set up cameras.

UBC is one of the most-filmed universities in the world, with more than 165 films and TV shows made there, according to Oxford Royale.

If you’re curious to see these popular UBC filming locations up close, the university has created a self-guided tour designed to show off the highlights.

According to UBC’s filming guidelines, projects filmed on campus must abide by rules. One of them is that “UBC’s anonymity must be maintained during any photo session and filming of all productions,” so you might not have even noticed UBC in your favourite film or TV series.

Also, UBC checks out scripts first to “ensure that the content does not damage the reputation or image of the university.”

While this is by no means an exhaustive list of everything shot at UBC, we hope you get a sense of how popular it is for filmmakers.

Here’s just a sample of the many films and TV shows made in part on the UBC campus:

The Adam Project

 

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Battlestar Galactica

UBC’s beautiful rose gardens are often featured in film and TV projects, including this scene in the sci-fi show Battlestar Galactica.

Battlestar Galactica

Rose Garden (Battlestar Galactica/Universal Television)

UBC Rose Garden

UBC Rose Garden. (UBC Media Relations)

Altered Carbon

Netflix’s Altered Carbon was partly filmed at UBC. Here’s the Rose Garden as the garden of Bancroft’s Palace.

Altered Carbon

Scene from Altered Carbon. (Netflix)

The Man In The High Castle

The area around Koerner Library and the Rose Garden were used as filming locations for this dystopian alternate-history show.

The Man In The High Castle

The Man In The High Castle filmed at UBC (Xicotencatl/Wikimedia)

The Butterfly Effect

Ashton Kutcher’s 2001 mind-bending time travel movie was partly filmed at UBC. Here’s Kutcher’s character, Evan Treborn, cycling down Main Mall.

The Butterfly Effect

Ashton Kutcher in The Butterfly Effect (The Butterfly Effect/Film Engine, BenderSpink, Katalyst Films)

Smallville

Anyone who was a teenager in the early 2000s will remember the television adaptation of Superman, Smallville. Considering the show is set in Kansas, you wouldn’t guess it was filmed at UBC. Here’s Koerner library cosplaying as the Central A&M Kansas campus library for the show.

Smallville Campus

UBC’s Koerner Library as ‘Central A&M Campus’ (traintracks/Flickr)

Koerner Library

Walter C. Koerner Library (Reina Takamatsu/Mapio.net)

She’s The Man

This adaptation of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night featuring Amanda Bynes was filmed at UBC.

Amanda Bynes

Thunderbird Stadium played ‘Illyria Stadium’ in She’s The Man (She’s The Man/Dreamworks Pictures)

Thunderbird Stadium

Thunderbird Stadium (UBC Sports Facilities)

Josie and the Pussycats

The Chan Centre for Performing Arts was spruced up to be used as the filming location for the MegaRecords party scene in the 2001 musical comedy Josie and the Pussycats.

Josie and the Pussycats

Party Scene (Josie and the Pussycats/Universal Pictures)

Chan Centre

Chan Centre for the Performing Arts (Jeff Hitchcock/Flickr)

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

X-Men Origins: Wolverine filmed the scene for the raid on the Lagos compound outside Buchanan Tower at UBC.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Buchanan Tower in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (X-Men Origins: Wolverine/Marvel Entertainment)

Buchanan Tower

Buchanan Tower at UBC (Google Street View)

Good Luck Chuck

The 2007 comedy Good Luck Chuck, starring Dane Cook and Jessica Alba, was filmed mostly in Vancouver, with Cecil Green Park House being the chosen filming location for the wedding scenes.

Cecil Green Park House

Cecil Green Park House (Jeff Hitchcock/Flickr)

Jessica Alba in Good Luck Chuck

The Wedding Scene in Good Luck Chuck (Good Luck Chuck/Lionsgate Films)

Tomorrowland

UBC’s Main Mall was the chosen location for the New York World’s Fair scenes in the George Clooney fantasy movie Tomorrowland – as you can see, a lot was added in post-production.

1964 World's Fair in Tomorrowland

1964 World’s Fair in Tomorrowland (Tomorrowland/Walt Disney Pictures)

UBC Main Mall

UBC Main Mall (freebody.zhang/Flickr)

The X-Files

Some of the earliest episodes of the original X-Files series featured some shots at UBC, but the campus was used more in the recent reboot of the show. Main Mall was the chosen location for one of Agent Fox Mulder’s scenes.

X-Files at UBC

X-Files filmed on Main Mall at UBC (Tiia/FanGirl Quest)

Hellcats

Hellcats, starring Ashley Tisdale as a cheerleader, depicted UBC as a fictional American college – Lancer University. Here are the Hellcats training on the grass outside of Irving K Barber library.

Irving K Barber

Irving K Barber Library (Xicotencatl/Wikimedia)

Legion

Legion, based on a Marvel Comics series, was partly filmed on the UBC campus. Here’s the new exterior of the Buchanan D building featured in the show.

UBC's Buchanan Building in Legion

(Legion/FX Productions)

Buchanan D

Buchanan D Building at UBC (hsili/Flickr)

Supernatural

The long-running horror/fantasy show Supernatural is filmed entirely in Vancouver. Here’s the beautiful Iona Building at UBC as Crawford Hall for the show.

Supernatural

The Iona Building at UBC as ‘Crawford Hall’ in Supernatural (Supernatural/The CW)

Iona Building

The Iona Building at UBC (Google Street View)

And here are a few more projects filmed at UBC, do you recognize them? Let us know in the comments.

  • Legends of Tomorrow
  • Agent X
  • Fringe
  • The Company You Keep
  • The Age of Adaline
  • Prison Break
  • Psych
  • Night at the Museum
  • The Magicians
  • Charmed
  • Fringe
  • Fifty Shades of Grey
  • The Exorcism of Emily Rose
  • The 4400
  • Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
  • Catwoman
  • Lucifer
  • iZombie
  • Psych
  • Stargate Atlantis
  • If I Stay
  • Riverdale
  • Charmed
  • Arrow
  • The Flash
  • Supergirl
  • Intersection
  • Masterminds
  • The 6th Day
  • Passengers
  • The Day the Earth Stood Still
  • Caprica

With files from Ben Carney.

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