Everyone knows Vancouver lands all the big Movies and TV shows, but let’s focus on some other places around the province that have had their fair share of filming. First up.. Hope.
Hope is a town 150 km’s east of Vancouver, in the Fraser Valley Regional District (nearly a 2 hour drive). It’s a popular stop for those travelling across the province.
It’s probably most famous for its 1981 shoot for Rambo’s First Blood starring Sylvester Stallone (First Blood also filmed in Greater Vancouver and beyond). Sets were built in the downtown area and they also made good use of the surrounding forests and park land. There’s even a Rambo Sly Stallone wood carving downtown and a plywood full size cut out #embraceHopeBC.
Going in another direction, The Hallmark channel LOVES the quaint look of the town. Often Hope is transformed into snowy American storefronts (even when shooting in the summer!). Many local spaces and personal homes are also rented for filming purposes either as actual film locations or as holding areas for cast and crew.
Hope also gets featured in Reality Shows such as Highway Thru Hell (2012- present) which showcases a recovery team helping highway users in the brutal winter conditions.
Just in time for Halloween 2021, the thriller Antlers was released;
A small-town Oregon teacher and her brother, the local sheriff, discover that a young student is harbouring a dangerous secret with frightening consequences.
Directed by Scott Cooper and produced by Guillermo del Torro, the horror was filmed in Hope and the Lower Mainland in 2018.
Here’s some popular shows that were filmed entirely in or in part in and around Hope:
Winters Dream (2018) Yellow Dog (1994)
Shoot to Kill (1998) Antlers (2021)
The Pledge (2001) A Dogs Way Home (2019)
The Hollow (2015) Sweet Virginia (2017)
Fire with Fire (1986) White Fang II (1994)
The Pledge (2001) The Stick up (2003)
Hope Springs (2003) Suspicious River (2004)
Afghan Knights (2007) Wind Chill (2007)
A Christmas Tree Grows in Colorado (2020)
More info. can be found at:
https://hopebc.ca/rambo-first-blood-filming-location-tour-self-guided/
We’d love to make our list even more comprehensive. Comment if you know of any we have missed – you can include smaller indie projects too
Hi… we had an indie film crew here in 2022 at Holiday Motel and Rv Resort in Hope BC. It was a Sci fi named Vortex at the time of filming. They rented Colin Firths room 11 Hope Springs, the office, rooms 7 and 15 and our mobile community. We would love to be added to your list and if you know it’s release date pls share. It was partially funded by the Canadian film board and so I hear that it must be shown at festivals. ty