Movies filmed on Arizona highways, the sequel

Recently, we published a blog that highlighted a dozen movies filmed on Arizona highways. We shared the blog on social media and, in response, you suggested more than 100 more movies you thought might have also featured Arizona highways, including the animated movie “Cars” (2006), which is debatable.

Here are more movies filmed on Arizona highways:

“Cannonball Run II” (1984) filmed many scenes in and around southern Arizona, according to an ADOT blog from 2020. One scene, in particular, takes place on SR 80 near Bisbee, where a car and helicopter stuck together by a magnet both go into the Mule Pass Tunnel, and only the car comes out on the other side.

“The Gumball Rally” (1976) filmed the beginning in New York, where the race in the movie begins, and the ending in California, where the race ends. However, the supposed drive across the US was filmed almost entirely in Arizona on multiple highways, including I-40 near Flagstaff and I-10 in metro Phoenix.

“The Wraith” (1986) was filmed on multiple “highways” in and around Tucson, not all of which are ADOT state highways, which is what we’d focus on. For example, filming took place on General Hitchcock Highway (also known as Catalina or Mount Lemmon Highway), which is not a state-maintained highway. Filming also took place on the I-10 Business Route in Tucson, which was an ADOT-maintained road at the time of filming, but has belonged to the city of Tucson since 2001. 

In the opening sequence of the film, a light flies under the Cienega Bridge, which was built by the Arizona Highway Department (ADOT’s predecessor) in 1921. At that time, the bridge carried US 80, which lost its designation as a U.S. highway in most of Arizona in 1977. That section of Historic US 80 is now known as Marsh Station Road, which is maintained by Pima County.

“Natural Born Killers” (1994) was filmed partly in Arizona, including on US 191 near Round Rock, multiple locations on the I-40 Business Route in Winslow, Arizona, and a diner right off SR 99, which is where the opening scene takes place.

“Midnight Run” (1988) was filmed on multiple highways in Arizona, including US 60 between Globe and the Salt River Canyon Bridge, a bar off the I-40 Business Route (Historic Route 66) in Williams and US 179 and SR 89A in and around Sedona.

“Evolution” (2001) filmed in and around Page, Arizona, including a scene in which the characters appear to drive on US 89 across the Glen Canyon Dam Bridge.

“Used Cars” (1980) was filmed primarily in Mesa, Arizona, at a car dealership and vacant lot along what is now Main Street, but was the route for US 60 at the time. 

The first segment of what is now US 60 (Superstition Freeway) opened in 1971, but didn’t officially become the route for US 60 until 1991, when ownership of most of Old US 60 was transferred to the city of Mesa.

The last part of Old US 60 (Main Street) still maintained by ADOT is between Sossaman and Meridian roads, but the roadway will be turned over to the Maricopa County Department of Transportation once the US 60X improvement project is completed.

Filming is said to have taken place on other highways in Arizona as well, including on SR 79, where the train jump was filmed.

“Starman” (1984) filmed on I-40 (Historic Route 66) in Coconino County, including in and around Meteor Crater and the Meteor City Trading Post.

“Vacation” (2015) filmed on US 89A in Marble Canyon, Arizona, and on the Historic Navajo Bridge over the Colorado River.

“Dudes” (1987) was filmed on multiple highways in northern Arizona, including Historic Route 66 near Flagstaff and state routes 89A and 179 near Sedona. Filming also took place on US 163 in Monument Valley, mostly on the Utah side but also at the state line.

“Eight Legged Freaks” (2002) was filmed in multiple locations in Arizona, including in Superior, where one of the characters hitchhikes on US 60.

These movies were not filmed on Arizona highways:

“Convoy” (1978) opens with “Arizona, noon, on the 7th of June,” but the movie was filmed almost entirely in New Mexico. The ending was filmed on a bridge connecting Needles, California, and Topock, Arizona, but contrary to popular belief, the bridge did not carry SR 95 over the Colorado River. 

The bridge used in the filming was a temporary, one-way wooden bridge built by the Bureau of Reclamation prior to construction of the Colorado River Front Work and Levee System, according to a Colorado River Historical Society and Museum newsletter. It was in use until the Colorado River/Needles Bridge was built in 1978, and the temporary bridge was torn down the same year.

“Waiting to Exhale” (1995) filmed in multiple locations in and around Phoenix, but no scenes take place on Arizona highways. In the beginning, a character appears to pass a “Welcome to Arizona” sign while driving on US 163, but the scene was actually filmed about 4-5 miles into Utah.

“Electra Glide in Blue” (1973) filmed on multiple roads in Arizona, including Bush Highway, which is not an ADOT-maintained state highway. 

Here are more movies filmed in Arizona, but not on state highways:

• “A Star is Born” (1976).
• “The Gauntlet” (1977).
• “Revenge of the Nerds” (1984).
• “Murphy’s Romance” (1985).
• “Can’t Buy Me Love” (1987).
• “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” (1989).
• “Back to the Future III” (1990).
• “Tombstone” (1993).
• “Beyond the Law” (1993).
• “Jerry Maguire” (1996).
• “U Turn” (1997).
• “Car Dogs” (2016).

For a while, Arizona was the only state in the southwest that was not offering an incentive for filming movies and other media in the state. This led to some movies filmed over the past decade to be filmed in surrounding states, despite being set in Arizona.

However, that has recently changed with the Arizona's Motion Picture Production Program (MPPP), which went into effect for movies filmed starting on or after Jan. 1, 2023. So, it’s possible we may see more of Arizona, and its highways, on the big screen soon.

“Pump Up the Volume” (1990), “Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion” (1997) and “The Fabelmans” (2022) were filmed in California.“Only the Brave” (2017), based on the Granite Mountain Hotshots, and “Arizona” (2018), despite its name, were both filmed in New Mexico. And while the ending of “Thelma & Louise” (1991) famously takes place at the Grand Canyon, it was filmed in Utah.