Casinos have played a hugely important role in a number of blockbuster films over the last few decades. Mysterious places dripping in gold and sparkles, full of opportunity, there’s no wonder they’ve been featured in so many big-name films. Often films will feature fictitious casinos in order to have more control over the filming environment and keep costs down. Other times, directors will choose a real casino to film in – after all, it would take a lot to recreate the magic of the Las Vegas strip. Some of the most famous films have used casinos to build tension and excitement – let’s talk about some of the most famous movie set casinos and look at just how much of them was real.
James Bond – Casino Royale
Despite multiple different actors playing the famous spy and decades of film instalments, one thing that’s remained constant is James Bond’s love of a casino. There have been a number of casinos featured over the years, but the casino in the Casino Royale film was one of the most iconic sets across the whole franchise. The casino that was used for filming is real – the stunning Casino De Monte Carlo. The jaw-dropping location caught the attention of James Bond fans everywhere – Forbes reported a 910% increase in searches of the Monte Carlo casino in the lead up to the film’s release.
Friends – The One in Vegas
Potentially one of the most famous episodes of Friends is The One in Vegas where Joey becomes a gladiator when his film gets cancelled and Ross and Rachel accidentally get married. During the episode, Joey said he was working as a gladiator at the famous Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, but the reality was much closer to the show’s home. The casino was constructed in place of where the famous Central Perk sofa usually sat. The Central Perk set was taken down for the Vegas episode and turned into a recreation of Caesar’s Palace. This was actually the only time in 10 seasons that The Central Perk set was ever deconstructed. The good news, however, is that the Friends Casino was based on the real Caesar’s Palace, so you can still head there to get your Friends fix!
Star Wars – Canto Bight
Canto Bight was the hugely popular casino city on the coast of the desert world of Cantonica. It was created for Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi and while the casino is of course entirely fictional, it was heavily influenced by some of the most famous casinos around the world, although which casinos is highly contested. The design of the city was heavily inspired by the city of Dubrovnik in Croatia. The casino itself is said to be inspired by a number of Monte Carlo establishments because of their opulence.
The Sopranos
The Sopranos was potentially one of the most famous drama series to come out of the 90s. Based around the head of an Italian-American crime family in New Jersey, the mob boss recounts his life to his psychiatrist. Being a show about a crime family there’s no surprise that casinos were a regular feature through the show’s 6 seasons.
What is surprising, however, is that most of the casino scenes were filmed on a set in the Silver Sidcup studio in Queens, New York – the same studios where most of the rest of the show was filmed. However, there were a few scenes that were filmed in a real casino. In season 6, episode 16, The Sopranos was filmed at Atlantic City’s Borgata Hotel and Casino. There was also another point where The Sopranos visited a casino in Connecticut, but this was part of a paid promotional appearance for Foxwoods and it’s not completely clear which casino this was.
Casino
Of course, you can’t write about casinos in film and TV without including the 1995 Robert De Niro film Casino. With a score of 8.2 on IMDB, it is certainly a classic that has stayed popular. Set in Las Vegas it is about the mobster culture in the 1970s and 1980s, and features plenty of glitz and glamour – as well as plenty of drama if that is more your thing!
Whilst we can’t visit a casino with James Bond and Whilst Canto Bright might be out of reach, users can choose a PayPal casino and have their own casino night at home. Playing online casino games is now easier than ever and with games like Grand Theft Auto helping to push the popularity of casino games they’re unlikely to go anywhere soon. We tend to associate casinos with glamour and sophistication & film and TVs certainly helps with this reputation – after all, what’s more glamour’s than a cocktail with James Bond?
Casinos have always played a huge role in popular culture, but particularly in films and TV. They’re often used as a way to show opulence and luxury, in the case of James Bond, or luck and opportunity in the case of Friends. Sometimes, however, they can also be used in a more negative light, to explain a character’s backstory, struggles with addiction or mental health – so there is a sense of real-life there too! Whether we’ll start to see online casinos feature more in film and TV remains to be seen, however, if their popularity is anything to go by then it is certainly something that should be featured.
However casinos are portrayed, if a scene was filmed in a real casino then fans are guaranteed to flock there in their thousands; which is possibly why most casinos are fictional or do not give away their exact name or location. Gambling can still be a tricky topic for some so it is important that the film and TV industry take a sensible approach to its portrayal rather than promoting it as something that people should take participate in order to win big and become rich – because the reality is sometimes very different.