Singapore‘s futuristic skyline has become a popular place for major Hollywood blockbuster movies to film, with the hyper-modern cityscape often standing in for urban environments of the future. Check out these four cool examples of Singapore’s skyline featured on the big screen.
Hitman: Agent 47 (2007)
Hitman’s plotline features Singapore extensively by name, with the main characters flying into Singapore’s famous Changi Airport (pictured below) during the course of their mission.
The iconic garden city hotel, Parkroyal Collection Pickering by WOHA Architects features prominently in the film and some of the main characters actually stay the night in the famously green hotel.
A dramatic fight scene happens in one of the hotel rooms, and the marble lobby and dramatic layered contours of the building’s carpark are pictured when the characters exit the hotel in the morning. A fictitious security camera shot even shows the hotel’s name, ‘PR HTL SING’!
Singapore’s famous Gardens by the Bay also feature prominently in the movie, and scenes are shot at the Cloud Forest Dome and the OCBC Skywalk.
A dramatic car chase scene also occurs in the middle of Singapore’s CBD among many recognisable landmarks. I still distinctly remember when the streets were shut for the filming!
The futuristic headquarters of the villainous ‘Syndicate International’ HQ is digitally added into the already striking skyline at Singapore’s Marina Bay.
A dramatic helicopter explosion occurs above some of Singapore’s recognisable skyscrapers and the Singapore Flyer.
Screenshots of video property of 20th Century Fox.
Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)
Singapore’s skyline features prominently in an alien attack on the earth in the sequel to the hit film Independence Day. During the attack, the Esplanade Theatres by the Bay and Raffles City Complex can be seen as chaos starts to erupt across the city.
The skyscrapers of the Singapore skyline begin to explode as the attack commences.
In this dramatic scene, Marina Bay Sands and the iconic skyline are completely destroyed.
Screenshots of video property of 20th Century Fox
Equals (2015)
Equals is another film set in a future dystopian city, mixing some of Singapore’s futuristic looking buildings with Tadao Ando‘s minimalist concrete architecture.
One of the main sets is Daniel Libeskind’s megacondo in Singapore, Reflections at Keppel Bay (Can you spot the Henderson Waves bridge, digitally inserted into the image below? Read more about that later).
The concrete public spaces and spiraling green roof of the Marina Barrage are also used for scenes in the dystopian movie.
One of the most heavily utilised locations is the iconic Henderson Waves Bridge and Canopy Walk at Singapore’s Southern Ridges Park.
Screenshots of video property of Route One Films, Scott Free Productions, Freedom Media & Infinite Frameworks Studio
Westworld: Season 3 (2020)
The third season of hit HBO TV series Westworld features Singapore prominently, after being recommended as a filming location by Bjarke Ingels. Many buildings in Singapore are used to set the scene for a future vision of Los Angeles, including a number of buildings by acclaimed local architecture firm WOHA.
Pinnacle at Duxton can be seen out the window of one of the main characters, played by Breaking Bad co-star Aaron Paul.
Singapore’s iconic Esplanade Theatres by the Bay is also shown a few times, with fictitious skyscrapers added in the background.
Parkroyal Collection Pickering by WOHA is featured in the opening sequence, the famous garden hotel is becoming a popular location for film shoots!
The futuristic faceted architecture of the Lasalle College of the Arts by RSP Architects looks awesome on screen!
The School of the Arts by WOHA Architect is re-imagined as a future hospital in the series.
The innovative Marina One development is imagined as the fictitious headquarters of a world-controlling tech company.
Aaron Paul can be seen taking phone calls on the futuristic Helix Bridge at Marina Bay, at the green roof of Singapore’s National Gallery, and at Orchard Road.
In the fourth episode, Singapore is confusingly also used as a named location in the series.
The dramatic light filled atrium of the National Gallery is reinterpreted as a bank.
One of the robot characters also visits the Atlas Bar at Parkview Square, Orchard Road and Chinatown Food Street.
The KPE expressway tunnel is also pictured.
Yet another WOHA-designed location is the Stadium MRT Station, which is a decade old in real-life Singapore but still looks super futuristic!
Some scenes are also set on Pulau Ubin.
The fourth WOHA-designed building in Westworld is the red-and-green Oasia Hotel Downtown, which is extracted and digitally added to the future LA skyline.
Screenshots of video property of HBO
Screenshots used in this post are taken from video which is property of their respective publishers and are shown for the purposes of reporting and critique.
