170,000 Movies - One Interactive Map

I recently reviewed the Movie Scene Map, an interactive map that makes it easy to find which iconic movie scenes were filmed right around the corner from your house.

However, the fact that a film was shot near you doesn't necessarily mean that the movie is set in your neighborhood. In many cases, filmmakers use one location to stand in for another, either because it's cheaper, more convenient, or simply looks the part.

For example, Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, while set almost entirely in the moody, nocturnal streets of Greenwich Village and Manhattan, was shot almost entirely in London. Even more astonishingly, London was also used to create some of the iconic, sweat-soaked Vietnam jungle scenes in Full Metal Jacket.

Which is why if you want to discover which movies are actually set in your town you need the World Cinema Atlas.

World Cinema Atlas is an interactive globe featuring 170,000 films and TV series, each placed on the map according to where their stories take place. Zoom in on the globe and the lights turn into movie posters, revealing the films and series set in the locations you are exploring.

You can search the map by location to discover which movies are set in your hometown, or browse the world to find cinematic stories set in far-flung destinations. The atlas also allows you to filter the map by format, including films, series and documentaries, and by the era in which a story takes place. If you're in the mood for a particular genre, you can also filter by categories such as sci-fi, romance and more.

What makes the atlas particularly interesting is that it isn't restricted to stories set on Earth. There are also views for films and series set on real worlds beyond our planet, as well as entirely fictional worlds. So, alongside exploring the movies set in London, you can also discover stories set on Mars or venture into the fictional universes created by authors and filmmakers (such as Tolkien's Middle-earth).