Films shot in Malta, and the sets you can still walk around

VisitMalta proudly says Malta has hosted Gladiator, Munich, Captain Phillips and Game of Thrones, and it has every right to. What its readable pages don’t say is where each one was filmed, and that’s where it gets interesting for anyone travelling. Here I separate what you can visit with a proper source from what the internet simply repeats.

What VisitMalta confirms

VisitMalta’s film page says Malta has had scenes from Game of Thrones, Gladiator, Captain Phillips and World War Z, and another of its pages adds Munich. It also names Mdina twice, as King’s Landing and as a location in The Count of Monte Cristo. A film-by-location list exists, but it loads through a script I couldn’t read, so I’m not inventing locations.

That leaves a short but very good list of places a traveller can visit with confidence. Four of them, one on Malta, one on Comino and two on Gozo.

Popeye Village, the set that stayed

This is the clearest case. Popeye Village, at Anchor Bay in Mellieħa, presents itself as the genuine set built for Popeye, the 1980 film. Wikipedia adds that construction began in June 1979 and that filming, with Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall, ran from January to June 1980, though that’s no longer an official source.

Today it’s a park. Until 30 September adult entry is €25 and includes the inflatables on the water and mini golf. Between 1 October and 5 November 2026 it’s €18, and from 6 November to €15. It opens from 09:30 to 18:00 in high season, closing at 17:30 in spring and autumn and 17:00 in winter, and the company says it offers ample parking and wheelchair access. My full take, with opening hours, is in Popeye Village.

The Château d’If is on Comino

St Mary’s Tower on Comino, built in 1618 under Grand Master Wignacourt, was the Château d’If for The Count of Monte Cristo, according to the Ministry for Gozo and VisitMalta. It sits about 80 metres above the sea on the island’s plateau, with walls around six metres thick, and from up there you understand why a film crew saw a prison in it. VisitMalta adds that the main block is twelve metres high on a plinth of about eight, and the Ministry for Gozo notes that errant knights were once sent to man this lonely tower as a punishment, which makes the casting even more fitting. The catch is that neither VisitMalta nor the Ministry publishes opening hours. I’d check before going, as I explain in St Mary’s Tower. You reach Comino by boat, as covered in Comino island.

By the Sea, in southern Gozo’s prettiest cove

For me this is the best location of the lot. The Ministry for Gozo says By the Sea, starring Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, was shot at Mġarr ix-Xini, a narrow inlet once used by the Order’s galleys, and the spot where, in 1551, the Turks loaded the Gozitans they carried off as slaves. At its mouth stands a tower from 1661, opened by volunteers on selected days. It’s free, and I cover it in Mġarr ix-Xini.

Gladiator, Troy and what can’t be confirmed

Time to be honest. Plenty of websites put Gladiator and Troy at Fort Ricasoli in Kalkara, but that comes from Wikipedia, not from any official source I could access, because the Malta Film Commission’s website sits behind a block I couldn’t get past. Troy doesn’t even appear on VisitMalta’s pages. And even if it’s true, the fort, by Wikipedia’s own account, is in poor repair and closed to visitors. So I wouldn’t plan anything around it.

The same goes for Munich, Captain Phillips and World War Z. They were shot in Malta, but I don’t know where, and I’d rather tell you that than fill the gap.

Game of Thrones and a Channel 4 series

Game of Thrones gets its own page, because it’s the search that draws the most interest. The official sources confirm Mdina Gate and Dwejra Bay, and I cover both in Game of Thrones filming locations in Malta.

One last production that British viewers may know. The Malta Tourism Authority says Richard E. Grant’s Very Modern Odyssey for Channel 4 filmed in the Grand Harbour, Valletta, St John’s Co-Cathedral and Gozo. If you watched it, half the country will look familiar.