Hong Kong has been prominently featured in many Hollywood blockbusters. Even in recent memory, there is a list of them: The Dark Knight (2008); Contagion (2011), Battleship (2012), Pacific Rim (2013) and probably the most expensive one of them all so far – Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014).

Hong Kong is also an entertainment powerhouse in its own right, producing hundreds of movies a year. So it is quite understandable that the city has already made its name in the cinematic world.

Unlike Hong Kong, Singapore is rarely mentioned in Hollywood movies, though it also has a high profile in the international community and a beautiful city landscape. Maybe in the eyes of many foreigners, the two cities are not that much different. They are both Asian financial hubs, predominantly Chinese societies and inherited some of the British systems from their colonial past.

These are a few of the Hollywood movies in recent years that feature Singapore partially or prominently (All photos below are from IMBd’s gallery):

1. Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

The movie is set in Singapore and the story revolves around a rich family’s life in the wealthy city-state. Having taken in US$173 million at the US box office, it has become the most successful rom-com movie in the past decade. That is a feat especially considering that the cast consists of mainly Asian actors, something unimaginable even in recent Hollywood history.

Many of Singapore’s landmarks such as Marina Bay Sands, Raffles Hotel, Gardens by the Bay, Newton Food Centre are so prominently featured that it is hard to tell the movie from a deliberately made tourism advertisement.

It might have just become the most successful ad for Singapore. Shortly after the movie was released in theaters, newspapers around the world started to run articles telling readers where to find these places that look so glamorous in the movie.

2. Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)

In this movie directed by the Si-Fi master Roland Emmerich, who is behind Independence Day (1996), The Day After Tomorrow (2004) and 2012 (2009), Singapore becomes one of the cities that are blown up by Aliens.

The trailer of the movie released at the time already got some of the Singaporeans talking. In the trailer, Marina Bay, including the landmark Marina Bay Sands, is visibly on fire and about to collapse.

A glimpse of the Hong Kong actress Angela Baby as one of the fighter jet pilots is also seen in the trailer. In the Hitman: Agent 47, Angela Baby also made a cameo as an agent in Singapore (with Marina Bay as the backdrop).

3. Hitman: Agent 47 (2015)

Now this is a movie that is mainly set in Singapore. In this revved-up action movie, you’ll see a full view of Robinson Road, choreographed shots of Gardens by the Bay (which looks stunning, by the way) and scattered appearance of Marina Bay.

Singaporeans will get excited when they watch the action scene on Robinson Road, with a familiar sight of the street, buildings, the MPH bookstore and even Comfort taxis!

Though the movie made only US$22.47 million in the US, its global office box amounted to US$82.35 million. So I would say it’s great publicity for Singapore!

4. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007)

Though the movie runs 169 minutes, you won’t see a single snapshot of Singapore. The only direct reference is the opening line of Chow Yun-Fat’s character Captain Sao Feng: “Welcome to Singapore.”

Sadly, the movie wasn’t filmed here, though Captain Sao Feng is portrayed as a legendary pirate lord based in Singapore.

But that didn’t stop Singapore Tourism Board (STB) from going into a frenzy to promote Singapore as a travel destination. In conjunction with the launch of the movie premier, STB ran a global marketing blitz to attract tourists.