Pirates III, Other Recent Movies Show Utah Scenes

Utah's unique landscape continues to attract moviemakers. The most recent example: Some scenes in Pirates of the Caribbean III were shot on the Great Salt Lake. Pirates is just one of a long list of films with scenes shot in Kanab, Moab, Monument Valley and many other scenic Utah spots.

Kristen Rogers-Iversen talks about Utah's movie history in this Salt Lake Tribune article.

"Kanab - and Utah - got its big break when in 1939 John Ford made 'Stagecoach,' starring John Wayne, in Monument Valley. After that, he and many other directors returned to Utah many times.

"Kanab's 'fifteen minutes' of fame dwindled in the 1950s and '60s. But filmmakers have come to Utah ever since. Wendover, Alta, Cedar Breaks, Zion, Snow Canyon, the Moab area, the Great Salt Lake (for ocean scenes), and other places have starred in a variety of films and TV shows."

Read the entire article.

Many people like to tour movie sites while on vacation. The old set from the Gunsmoke TV series is still an attraction near Kanab. Here's a full list of movies filmed in that area.

Moab also plays up its Hollywood connection. Did you know that Indiana Jones was raised near Moab, as revealed in The Last Crusade. And the climatic car-over-cliff scene in Thelma & Louise was shot near Dead Horse Point.

Here's a list of films shot around Moab.