Where were the Journey to the Center of the Earth movies filmed? Carlsbad Caverns, Hawaii, Iceland, and studio magic – fake rocks, real caverns.
In Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008), Professor Trevor Anderson (Brendan Fraser) gets stuck with his nephew Sean (Josh Hutcherson) on a science expedition gone wild. They follow cryptic clues from Jules Verne’s classic book – and literally fall into a volcanic tube.
Cue giant mushrooms, man-eating plants, and a lost world full of prehistoric panic. The cast also includes Anita Briem as their badass guide, Hannah. It’s Jurassic Park meets “Did I leave the oven on?”
Then came 2012’s Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, swapping Fraser for Dwayne Johnson’s biceps, adding Michael Caine as the grandpa who just won’t stay lost.
And before all that? The 1959 original with James Mason and Pat Boone, filmed so deep underground they needed headlamps and patience.
Table of Contents
🎥 Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) – Brendan Fraser Blockbuster
Filming for the Brendan Fraser blockbuster, Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008), took 48 days. On day three, Fraser burned his fingers on a magnesium flare while filming a scene in Montreal. He quickly recovered.
Director Eric Brevig was making his directorial debut after working as a visual effects supervisor on Armageddon and winning an Academy Award for Total Recall. Most of the “center of the Earth” was created on Montreal soundstages and green screens.
Brendan Fraser dodged glowing mushrooms at MELS Studios in Montreal (then called Cité du Cinéma), where Canadian effects wizards turned empty warehouse space into a prehistoric fever dream.
The film was the first live-action feature shot in digital 3D using a custom stereoscopic camera rig. The famous scene where Fraser slides down a glowing mineral chute was a full CG virtual environment.
Five VFX firms worked on the production: Montreal’s Meteor Studios created CG environments for the Mine Ride and Mine Crash, while Frantic Films produced digital water effects and creatures (Razorfish, Plesiosaur, Trilobite).
Where was it filmed?
- Snæfellsjökull National Park, Iceland: Volcanic peaks standing in for Jules Verne’s entrance
- Cité du Cinéma, Montreal: Every glowing mushroom and mine cart chase
- Britannia Mine Museum, BC: Authentic mine shaft descending into fake danger
- Winnipeg, Manitoba: Additional “special edition” pickups (yes, really)
🏝️ Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012) – The Hawaiian Sequel
Brendan Fraser did not return for the sequel, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012), so in stepped Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, whose biceps alone required their own call sheet. Josh Hutcherson reprised his role as Sean, joined by Michael Caine as his grandfather.
Where was Journey 2 filmed? Primarily on the island of Oʻahu, Hawaii, starting in late 2010. Waimea Bay Beach Park served as the location for the helicopter scenes and the ATV chase sequence was filmed at Kualoa Ranch (Hollywood’s Hawaii Backlot).
The “Mysterious Island” itself was a blend of real Hawaiian locations and studio set work at Wilmington, North Carolina, where indoor sequences were filmed at EUE/Screen Gems Studios.
The facility includes large special-effects water tanks used for the the sinking-island finale in gloriously soggy slow motion. The miniature elephants were created with CGI (shocker).
Where was it filmed?
- Kualoa Ranch, Oahu: ATV chase and adorable tiny elephants
- Waimea Bay Beach Park: Helicopter scenes and waterfall-powered vehicle
- Waimānalo Beach Park: Most of the sun-soaked coastal sequences
- Halona Beach Cove: Unique rock formations for shipwreck vibes
- EUE/Screen Gems Studios, NC: 37,500-gallon tank for sinking-island climax
⛰️ Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) – The Lost Civilization
Another television adaptation of Journey to the Center of the Earth, produced by RHI Entertainment, offers a distinct take on Jules Verne’s classic.
This 2008 TV movie follows a rescue mission rather than the original plot. Rick Schroder stars as Professor Jonathan Brock, who leads an expedition into the Earth’s depths to find a missing explorer (Peter Fonda).
Filmed in summer 2007 in British Columbia, the production used dense Pacific Northwest forests and rocky terrains to depict entry points beneath the crust in a cave in Alaska.
On a television budget, director T.J. Scott employed camera filters, motion blur, and heavy shading to mask modest digital effects. In addition to prehistoric creatures like a Plesiosaur, the explorers discover a subterranean primitive civilization.
As one of three Journey films released in 2008 – alongside Fraser’s blockbuster and a mockbuster from The Asylum – this version remains a curious footnote in the story’s adaptation history.
What was filmed here:
- Vancouver, British Columbia: Urban settings doubled for academic campuses.
- British Columbia Interior: Dense forests and cavernous rocky terrain.
🌋 Journey to the Center of the Earth (1977) – Into the Volcanic Depths
Juan Piquer Simón‘s 1977 adaptation of Journey to the Center of the Earth (released internationally as Where Time Began) takes a distinctly Spanish approach to Jules Verne‘s classic.
Shot entirely on location across Spain and the Canary Islands, the film swaps studio-bound fantasy for the raw, otherworldly textures of real volcanic caves and mountain ranges.
British screen icon Kenneth More stars as Professor Otto Lidenbrock, leading a expedition through lava tubes and stalactite-filled caverns toward a hidden prehistoric realm.
Unlike Hollywood versions, this production embraced practical grit – actors navigated damp, freezing cave floors for days while dialogue was stitched together in post-production between English and Spanish performances.
The film’s secret weapon was art director Emilio Ruiz del Río, whose hand-painted matte paintings and miniature work gave the subterranean world an eerie, handmade grandeur.
Though overshadowed by the 1959 James Mason version, this 1977 adaptation remains a cult favorite for fans of European fantasy cinema and Verne’s more rugged, geological obsessions.
What was filmed here:
- Lanzarote, Canary Islands: Volcanic lava tubes as subterranean gates.
- Cueva de Valporquero, León: Stalactite chambers for deep descent scenes.
- Casa Botines, León: Gaudí building doubled for Reykjavik museum.
- Tenerife & Madrid: Additional exteriors and studio interiors.
🏜️ Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) – American Desert Edition
When filming Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959), there was no CGI or green screens. Just men, caves, and poor decisions.
James Mason and Pat Boone filmed at Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico – reportedly 800 feet underground, though nobody thought to bring a tape measure. The crew hauled 1950s camera equipment down narrow, wet passages while bats watched from above.
The underground ocean sequence was filmed at Leo Carrillo State Beach in Malibu, because nothing says “Center of the Earth” like Pacific tide pools with blue filters and a fog machine working overtime.
The volcano exterior was Amboy Crater in the Mojave Desert – a real cinder cone so remote that the cast got very warm. For the eruption scene, filmmakers burned tons of old tires and thousands of gallons of fuel oil, because 1959 environmental standards were basically a suggestion.
Those magnificent crystal caverns? Partly Carlsbad, partly Fox Studios sets built so well that modern CGI still sends them a jealous postcard. Colossal Cave Mountain Park in Arizona gets name-dropped as a filming location, but we couldn’t confirm it, so let’s call that “legendary.”
What was filmed here:
- Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico: Vast underground chambers (800 feet deep)
- Edinburgh, Scotland: The Professor’s house and university quadrangle
- Amboy Crater, California: Exterior of the Icelandic volcano
- Lone Pine, California: Rugged Icelandic landscape stand-in
- Leo Carrillo State Beach: Underground ocean sequences (yes, a beach)
- Colossal Cave Mountain Park, Arizona: Additional cavern footage?
- 20th Century Fox Studios, LA: Professor’s home interior and complex sets
Trivia:
- Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) built such spectacular underground sets that The Lost World (1960) borrowed them the very next year. Recycle, reuse, re-descend into the Earth.
- Professor Lindenbrook’s cozy, cluttered home and several crystal cavern interiors were built by hand at 20th Century Fox’s Stages 5 & 6 in Los Angeles – no computers, just carpenters.
❓ Journey to the Center of the Earth FAQ
Is there a Journey to the Center of the Earth 3?
Sadly no. Fans still dream of “three-quel with The Rock and a lava surfer.”
Is there a Journey to the Center of the Earth ride?
Not at Disney. But France’s Futuroscope park has a walkthrough attraction.
Movies like Journey to the Center of the Earth?
Try The Lost World (1960), Atlantis: The Lost Empire, the Jumanji movies, The Mummy trilogy (for more Brendan Fraser energy), or The Descent (if you prefer nightmares).
Is the Jules Verne book worth reading?
Absolutely. More geology lectures, fewer Dwayne Johnson biceps – but hey, it’s a classic for a reason. If you enjoyed Journey to the Center of the Earth, also try:
- The Mysterious Island
- Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
- Around the World in Eighty Days
- From the Earth to the Moon
- Five Weeks in a Balloon
- Michael Strogoff
Who was in the Journey to the Center of the Earth cast?
- 1959: James Mason, Pat Boone.
- 1977: Kenneth More, Ivonne Sentis.
- 2008: Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson.
- 2008: Peter Fonda, Rick Rick Schroder.
- 2012: Dwayne Johnson, Josh Hutcherson, Michael Caine.
📺 Watch Journey to the Center of the Earth
And now for the real treasure hunt – discovering where to actually watch these underground adventures.
- Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) – James Mason
- ➡️ Watch on Amazon Prime
- ➡️ Buy the DVD/Blu-ray
- Journey to the Center of the Earth (1977) – Kenneth More
- ➡️ Watch on Amazon Prime
- ➡️ Buy the DVD/Blu-ray
- Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) – Brendan Fraser
- ➡️ Watch on Amazon Prime
- ➡️ Buy the DVD/Blu-ray
- Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) – Peter Fonda
- ➡️ Watch on Amazon Prime
- ➡️ Buy the DVD/Blu-ray
- Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012) – Dwayne Johnson
- ➡️ Watch on Amazon Prime
- ➡️ Buy the DVD/Blu-ray.
And there you have it – three very different journeys to the same fictional center, each carved out of real caves, volcanic peaks, tropical beaches, and good old-fashioned studio wizardry.
Whether you prefer James Mason in a cavern, Brendan Fraser in 3D, or The Rock punching a giant lizard, grab some popcorn, pick a platform, and start digging.
Disclaimer: This fan-created article is provided for informational and educational purposes only. All referenced titles, names, and related intellectual property are the property of their respective owners, and no copyright infringement is intended.
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