Movies filmed around Sacramento

These productions have brought the City of Trees to the silver screen.

An aerial view of Foresthill Bridge outside of Sacramento, CA.

Vin Diesel jumped off Foresthill Bridge in the 2002 movie “xXx.”

Photo by Sergey Yarmolyuk via Wikimedia Commons

As production on Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film wraps up in Downtown Sacramento, we thought we’d quickly spotlight some of our favorite flicks that have filmed around the City of Trees.

“Almost Famous” — Cameron Crowe’s semi-autobiographical flick about a teen music critic in the 1970s shot the famous “Tiny Dancer” bus scene in Lincoln, just outside of Sacramento.

“xXx” — Get your head out of the gutter; this 2002 Vin Dielsel-led action thriller notably used Foresthill Bridge for that sweet stunt at the beginning where Vinny leaps out of a car after it flies over the bridge’s side.

“American Beauty” — The opening shot of this poorly-aged film (I can say that, I have a film degree — City Editor Jordan) sets its tone with suburban Sacramento aerials set to a voiceover from the increasingly-gross Kevin Spacey.

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