San Diego is a very beautiful location, as well as notable in the minds of people both in the United States and around the world. Because of these qualities, many people have chosen to shoot films in San Diego. This has added to the attraction of the City for many tourists. Films that have been shot in San Diego include:

1) Almost Famous (1999) – This Academy Award winning film is a coming-of–age story about a teenager who chases his first cover story for Rolling Stone by covering the band Stillwater. It won an Oscar for best screenplay, although it suffered poor box office earnings. Stars in this film include Kate Hudson, Jason Lee and Anna Paquin.

2) Bring It On (2000) – This movie about cheerleaders was a box office success, earning over 90 million dollars worldwide, and went on to inspire two straight-to-video sequels. Most of the film was shot in locations in San Diego, with spots in various high schools used as sets. Because of this, the high school featured in the film is actually an amalgamation of the different schools in San Diego. It starred Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Dushku, Jesse Bradford and Gabrielle Union.

3) Bruce Almighty (2003) – This is another box office hit, parts of which were shot in locations around San Diego. The film tells the story of Bruce Nolan, played by the talented Jim Carrey, who is granted God’s powers. Being an unsuccessful news anchor, Nolan blames his bad luck on God, after which he is left with God’s powers and responsibilities. The film grossed over 484 million dollars worldwide and became the 17th-highest grossing comedy of all time.

4) The Lost World: Jurassic Park 2 (1997) – This sequel to the smash hit Jurassic Park tells the story of an island inhabited by dinosaurs. Ian Malcolm, a character from the first film, leads a group of researchers to study the Dinosaurs in their natural habitats, while another group attempts to capture some dinosaurs for a theme park in San Diego. The successful capture of a Tyrannosaurus Rex -- and it’s less successful confinement – leads to the dinosaur rampaging in the streets of San Diego. This movie earned over 618 million dollars –a bit below its predecessor, but still making it one of the highest grossing films of all time.

5) Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home (1995) – This film showed the various marine parks that one can see in San Diego. It is a sequel to the 1993 film Free Willy. This movie told the story of how the lead character in the first movie, Jesse (played by Jason James Richter), has to contend with various new elements in his life, including rescuing more Orca and dealing with a new brother.

6) Casino (1995) – This Academy Award nominated film was directed by the acclaimed Martin Scorsese, and starred Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Sharon Stone. It is actually based on a book by Nicholas Pileggi, who also co-wrote the script. The film follows Nicky Santoro and his goal to ensure that a casino, Tangiers, pays its share fully to the mob and thus, keeps them in line.

7) Citizen Kane (1941) – One of the most acclaimed films of all time, this film was written and directed by Orson Welles. Today, this film is considered by many to be one of the best films ever made, although its reception at the box office at the time of release was rather disappointing.