Where Was Castaway Filmed? A Biographical Drama From 1986!!

It’s quite easy to mix-up the movie Castaway with Cast Away, another adventure-drama film starring Tom Hanks. However, don’t be confused as today we are going to discuss the former biographical film, Castaway, released in 1986. And later share with you where was Castaway filmed.

The British adventure-drama film, Castaway, released in 1986 was loosely based on a novel by Lucy Irvine, published 2 years prior to this film. Nicolas Roeg, while directing this film, was deeply motivated by the inspiring story of Lucy’s survival on an inhabited island. Nicolas spent weeks understanding the difficulties and fatal challenges that Lucy had faced, while dealing with the precarious situation. The basic premise of the Castaway is centered around the characters of Gerald and Lucy, who choose to spend an entire year on a secluded island, by themselves.

Romantic as it sounds, the ground-situation soon turns south on the duo, when they start facing crisis, one after another. The makers of Castaway were massively disappointed with the performance of the film at the box office. This biographical film only managed to earn just over $1 million in world-wide collections. The fans and critics reviewed Castaway hard-heartedly as well, for the inherent storyline and unimpressive performance by the actors.

So, before I briefly discuss the plot of this classic film, so that you can formulate your opinion. Let’s explore where was Castaway filmed, and take a closer look at the beautiful filming locations.

Where Was Castaway Filmed? Let’s Know This Biographical Film Closely!

The makers of Castaway initially wanted to shoot the entire film in and around the beautiful island of the Bahamas. But after reviewing the low filming budget, Nicolas Roeg and other creative heads of the unit resorted to recreating the majority of the scenes inside a set in London and shooting the rest of the outdoor sequences on the Australian island of New Guinea.

Principal photography began in the summer of 1980 and was completed in 4 months. The filming schedule was extended due to the mismanagement of the crew, with the transportation of the logistics and failure to pre-arrange the filming permissions on time. The shooting dates were delayed for other financial reasons as well, resulting in the crew later making up for the lost time. So, without waiting any longer, let’s have a detailed discussion about where was Castaway filmed, and find out more about the specific shooting sites.

New Guinea Island

The production members began filming on the second-largest Island in the world, before shooting in the UK. The establishing shots were taken on the southern part of New Guinea Island. The handful of unit members on location could only film during the day, as the team could not arrange adequate lighting equipment to capture the scenes at night. The filming dates were stretched due to this problem, and there was literally nothing that could be done, maneuver through this major predicament. So after capturing the mesmerizing sequences of the Pacific Ocean and the Island, the crew returned to the UK to finish filming the remaining scenes.

London | UK 

After spending almost one-third of the entire production budget filming on an exotic island, the crew returned to the city of London. Filming was halted until the makers scouted for a decent studio in London, to finish shooting the remaining scenes. The production members then constructed a special make-believe set, which was used to portray the tropical settings of New Guinea. A considerable amount of time and money was spent to do so, but the filming crew somehow managed to pull it off.

The crew then captured exterior shots in and around the city of London and later used them to depict the opening scene of the film. After the entire filming process was completed the members began working on the promotion and other post-production areas.

So if you’re planning to visit London this winter, then you can certainly look into, Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, The British Museum and The National Gallery. These places have served to be one the major tourist attractions of London, over the years.

Alrighty friends, now let’s quickly discuss the plot of Castaway. So that you can get a better grip on the actual storyline of this film. Plus, in the meantime, you can also check out The Voice, Zoolander and A Man Called Otto which I think you’d surely love to watch.

Plot Of Castaway | What’s It About

As mentioned earlier, the story of Castaway is centered around the characters of Gerald and Lucy, who spend an entire year on an island by themselves. At the very beginning of the film, the male lead is shown to post a lucrative advertisement on a local daily, about an all expense paid trip to a beautiful Island. Upon inquiring further Lucy understands the terms and conditions of the trip, which specifically required a female companion to spend one year with Gerald on the exotic island.

Later in the film, after Lucy and Gerald set foot on the beautiful island of New Guinea, everything looks and feels heavenly to them. However, the pangs of melancholy and fear soon creep in, as the situation on the island becomes worse with each passing day. Gerald, who was the main orchestrator of the plan, had completely given up hope for survival, but Lucy on the other hand remained calm and collected. Watch the Castaway to witness how Lucy makes it back to London, to share her awe-inspiring story.

Final Words

Alright guys, now that you know where was Castaway filmed, I hope you liked the read and got what you were looking for. Don’t forget to check out other articles on Viebly, and do mention your thoughts in the comments section below.