Movies and TV Filmed in Jersey City: The Complete Location Guide
Direct Summary
Liberty State Park is the city’s most-filmed location, carrying The Godfather, Men in Black, Annie, Rising Sun and The Sopranos. Journal Square holds the most recognizable recent credits: the PATH station doubled as Osaka’s Umeda Station in John Wick: Chapter 4, and both Loew’s Jersey Theatre and the Brennan Courthouse appear in Joker. Downtown became 1960s Greenwich Village for A Complete Unknown, and the Newport waterfront and Van Vorst farmers market appear in It Ends With Us. As of 2026 the city has at least nine productions shooting or recently wrapped, including Netflix features with John Cena, Robert Pattinson and Andy Samberg.
The first thing to understand about Jersey City on film is that it is rarely playing itself. In the past decade the city has stood in for Gotham, for a subway station in Osaka, for 1960s Greenwich Village, and for Princeton. Some of those were shot within a few blocks of each other.
That is the reason productions keep coming. The city also has its own roster of famous people who called it home before Hollywood came to them, covered in our guide to Jersey City's most notable residents. What follows is the full list of productions, organized by where it happened, so you know which corner played what the next time you walk past it
The Full Catalog
Jersey City Filming Locations at a Glance
Every confirmed location in this guide, and what was filmed there.
| Location | Filmed there |
|---|---|
| Liberty State Park | The Godfather (1972), Men in Black (1997), Annie (2014), Rising Sun (1993), The Sopranos |
| Journal Square PATH station | John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023), as Osaka’s Umeda Station |
| Loew’s Jersey Theatre, 54 Journal Square Plaza, and the alley at 10 Path Plaza | Joker (2019) |
| Justice William Brennan Courthouse, Newark Avenue | Joker (2019), as the exterior of Wayne Hall |
| Jersey Avenue near Van Vorst Park, downtown | A Complete Unknown, as 1960s Greenwich Village |
| White Mana on Tonnelle Avenue and the Miss America Diner | A Complete Unknown |
| Newport waterfront, Van Vorst farmers market on York Street, South House | It Ends With Us |
| The Armory near McGinley Square | A Bronx Tale (1993) |
| Paulus Hook | A Beautiful Mind (2001), as a house in Princeton |
| Exchange Place | Coneheads (1993), Law & Order |
| Hamilton Park | Nasty Baby (2015), The Walking Dead |
| Grand Street, Brummer’s Confectionary (since moved) | Radio Days (1987) |
| North Baptist Spanish Church, Jersey Avenue and 4th Street | C.H.U.D. (1984) |
| Industrial ground near Route 440 | Army of the Dead (2021) |
| Cinelease Studios, Caven Point Avenue | The Housemaid (2025) |
| Riverview-Fisk Park | Little Brother (Netflix) |
| Communipaw Avenue | The Sopranos opening credits |
Verified location by location · wrongly credited films are listed further down
Where in Jersey City Was The Godfather Filmed?
Liberty State Park, on an unmarked road now inside the park grounds.
Peter Clemenza drives Paulie Gatto out, has him shot in the car, and reaches past the body for the box of cannoli he promised his wife. The Statue of Liberty sits in the background, which is how you know where you are looking. It is the only sequence in the entire film shot in New Jersey, and Hudson County's tourism office lists the coordinates for anyone who wants to stand there.
What Else Was Filmed at Liberty State Park?
A great deal, because 1,212 acres of open ground with the Manhattan skyline behind it solves a problem almost nothing else near New York solves.
Men in Black (1997) used the stretch along Freedom Way and Morris Pesin Drive for the scene where Agent J delivers an alien squid baby in a car. The film calls it the New Jersey Turnpike. It is Liberty State Park.
Annie (2014) filmed with Jamie Foxx and Quvenzhané Wallis at the park and along the downtown waterfront.
Rising Sun (1993) used the park for night sequences.
The Sopranos returned throughout its run, along with the industrial corridors nearby.
Liberty State Park, Jersey City
What Was Filmed at the Journal Square PATH Station?
The Osaka subway sequence in John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023).
This is the least obvious credit in the city and the most worth knowing. The production shot only a couple of days in Osaka itself. The Umeda Station scenes, the ones set in Japan, were filmed at the Journal Square Transportation Center. The film's production designer confirmed it plainly after release: the Osaka metro station is the Journal Square PATH station.
If you have taken the PATH from Journal Square, you have walked through a set a global action franchise passed off as Japan.
The Journal Square PATH station famously doubled as Osaka’s Umeda Station for key subway scenes in John Wick: Chapter 4.
What Was Filmed at Loew's Jersey Theatre?
Joker (2019), in the sequence where the Wayne family leaves the cinema.
The camera moves under the marquee at 54 Journal Square Plaza, the Waynes step onto the street, and a clown follows them into the alley at 10 Path Plaza, where Thomas and Martha Wayne are killed. The 1929 movie palace plays itself, which does not happen often. Loew's Jersey Theatre has been closed for a full historic restoration since 2021 and is scheduled to reopen in fall 2026, so check its site before planning a visit.
A few blocks away the Justice William Brennan Courthouse served as the exterior of Wayne Hall. Production closed a stretch of Newark Avenue near the courthouse and filled it with 1980s police vehicles for the riot sequence.
One correction, because it circulates locally: Joker's subway scenes were shot in the New York City subway, not at a PATH station. Jersey City's contribution is the theater, the alley beside it, and the courthouse.
Where Was A Complete Unknown Filmed in Jersey City?
Across downtown, which was rebuilt as 1960s Greenwich Village.
James Mangold's Bob Dylan film did most of its Village work here rather than in the Village. The production set up on Jersey Avenue near Van Vorst Park and dressed the street as MacDougal Street. A nail salon on Jersey Avenue became Cafe Wha?, where Dylan played his first New York shows. Snapdragon Coffee & Social stood in for a Village coffeehouse he frequented in 1962. Kitchen Step became Minetta Tavern. The Gaslight Cafe and Café Borgia were both recreated downtown.
Two Jersey City diners appear as themselves in period dress: White Mana on Tonnelle Avenue, and the Miss America Diner at West Side and Culver Avenues.
Anyone who has eaten at White Mana will understand why a production looking for 1962 walked in and stopped looking.
Where Was It Ends With Us Filmed in Jersey City?
The Newport waterfront, the Van Vorst farmers market on York Street, and South House.
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's adaptation of the Colleen Hoover novel began in Hoboken in May 2023, shut down during the strikes, and resumed in Jersey City's Newport neighborhood on January 5, 2024. The production was headquartered in Jersey City for its New Jersey run, and a casting call went out locally for children to appear at the farmers market.
What Other Films Used Jersey City?
A Bronx Tale (1993) filmed its boxing sequence at the Armory near McGinley Square.
A Beautiful Mind (2001) used Paulus Hook for the home John and Alicia Nash share, a house the film places in Princeton.
Coneheads (1993) brought its alien family out of the water and onto land at Exchange Place.
Radio Days (1987) shot at Brummer's Confectionary on Grand Street, which has since moved to Westfield.
C.H.U.D. (1984) used the North Baptist Spanish Church at Jersey Avenue and 4th Street for its soup kitchen scenes.
Choke (2008) filmed downtown. Army of the Dead (2021) used industrial ground near Route 440. Nasty Baby (2015) used Hamilton Park for residential exteriors.
The Housemaid (2025), the thriller with Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, shot interiors at Cinelease Studios on Caven Point Avenue.
The Beacon, the Art Deco complex that was formerly the Jersey City Medical Center, has served as a set for years on the strength of its entrance hall.
What Is Filming in Jersey City Right Now?
More than at any point in the city's history. Nine productions have shot here or wrapped recently.
Little Brother
, the Netflix film with John Cena, Eric André, Michelle Monaghan and Christopher Meloni, filmed at Riverview-Fisk Park in summer 2025 and returned for reshoots in January 2026.
Here Comes the Flood
, a Netflix heist feature, filmed extensively across Hoboken and Jersey City from November 2025 into January 2026.
42.6 Years
, Andy Samberg’s science-fiction romantic comedy with Annette Bening, Betty Gilpin, Hong Chau and Dianne Wiest, began production in Jersey City and New York in May 2026.
Don’t Say Good Luck
, the Adam Sandler production starring Sunny Sandler, filmed in Jersey City among six New Jersey towns and arrived on Netflix in August 2026.
The Beast in Me
, the Netflix series with Claire Danes, Brittany Snow and Matthew Rhys, shot near West Side Avenue.
Mr. Irrelevant
, Jonathan Levine’s film about NFL draft pick John Tuggle, shot in Jersey City in late May 2025.
The Family McMullen
filmed on Barrow Street and around downtown in April 2025.
An Innocent Girl
, a Netflix thriller, listed Jersey City among its locations.
Office Romance
, with Jennifer Lopez and Brett Goldstein, also worked in the area.
Montgomery Street, Jersey City, NJ
What TV Shows Film in Jersey City?
The Sopranos used at least 34 separate Jersey City locations across its eight seasons, including Crown Fried Chicken, St. Patrick's Church, local cemeteries and homes. The drive down Communipaw Avenue appears in the opening credits.
The Law & Order franchise has used the downtown core and Exchange Place to double for Manhattan for decades. Blue Bloods shoots harbor scenes along the waterfront. The Equalizer films regularly in Bergen-Lafayette and McGinley Square. Wu-Tang: An American Saga used upper Jersey City to rebuild 1990s Staten Island and Brooklyn. The Walking Dead shot in Hamilton Park in 2023.
The pattern across all of them is the same. A crew that needs New York without New York's permitting and parking takes the tunnel instead.
Which Films Are Wrongly Credited to Jersey City?
Worth knowing, because several circulate on location lists and none of them are accurate.
Cop Land (1997) shot principally in Edgewater. Once Upon a Time in America (1984) used Hoboken Terminal and Spring Lake, not Jersey City. Being John Malkovich (1999) dumps its hero beside what the film calls the New Jersey Turnpike, filmed in Wilmington, California. The Iceman (2012) filmed in Los Angeles, New York City and Shreveport.
Happy Gilmore 2 (2025) and Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere (2025) are both genuine New Jersey productions with no Jersey City locations on the state's own lists.
Are There Film Studios in Jersey City?
Two, and they matter more than any single credit.
Cinelease Studios
21 Caven Point Avenue
3Soundstages
The first purpose-built film and television studio built in New Jersey in more than 40 years, roughly fifteen minutes from Manhattan.
Visit Cinelease ↗Parlay Studios
6 Senate Place
3Stages
On the Mana Contemporary campus near Journal Square.
Visit Parlay ↗Both are listed in the state’s own production directory.
A location shoot leaves when the scene is done. A soundstage brings crews back month after month.
Why Do Productions Choose Jersey City?
Three reasons, in order of how much they matter.
The first is the state tax credit. New Jersey's Film and Digital Media Tax Credit Program, administered through the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission, is the largest single factor in why anything films here. In 2024 the state hosted 556 productions, spending hit a record $833 million, and more than 30,000 crew members were hired.
New Jersey film production · 2024
Source: NJEDA and New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission, 2024 production and spending figures.
The second is that the city can be dressed as almost anywhere. A film needing Princeton, Osaka, Gotham and the Village can find all four inside one municipality.
The third is proximity, which everyone cites and which is the least interesting. Plenty of places are close to Manhattan. Not many are close to Manhattan and have a 1929 movie palace, a Beaux-Arts courthouse, a 1,212 acre waterfront park, a brutalist transit hub, an Art Deco hospital and three soundstages.
Will More Productions Film Here in 2026?
Jon Crowley, executive director of the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission, has said the state is tracking significantly above last year.
The construction supports it. Netflix is building a 500,000 square foot facility at the former Fort Monmouth. Lionsgate and Great Point Studios are building in Newark. Paramount signed a minimum ten-year lease as anchor tenant at 1888 Studios in Bayonne, committing to more than 285,000 square feet.
None of those are in Jersey City. All of them put more crews within a short drive, and crews already in the state look for locations in the state.
Does Filming Affect Jersey City Real Estate?
Less directly than people assume, and more than nothing.
A production does not change what a building is worth. It changes how many people have seen the block. Paulus Hook, Van Vorst Park, Hamilton Park and Journal Square read differently to a buyer who has watched a crew spend a week making them look like somewhere else, because it confirms what a listing photo cannot: the architecture is real, the streets are intact, and the neighborhood holds up on camera.
The more useful signal is the studios. Cinelease at Caven Point and Parlay near Journal Square are permanent employers, and permanent employers change who is renting and buying nearby.
If you want to know what these blocks are doing in the current market rather than on screen, our Jersey City community guide breaks the city down neighborhood by neighborhood, and the August 2026 market report has the numbers for all six submarkets.
Interactive Map
Jersey City Filming Locations Map
- 24Locations
- 23Films and shows
- 2Film studios
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
Pier in Jersey City, NJ
Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
The “leave the gun, take the cannoli” scene from The Godfather (1972), filmed at Liberty State Park with the Statue of Liberty visible behind the car. It is the only scene in the film shot in New Jersey. More local answers are in our Hudson County real estate FAQ.
Yes. The Journal Square PATH station doubled as Umeda Station in Osaka for John Wick: Chapter 4, confirmed by the film’s production designer.
Yes. Filming resumed in the Newport neighborhood on January 5, 2024, after a strike shutdown, with additional scenes at the Van Vorst farmers market on York Street and at South House.
Loew’s Jersey Theatre at 54 Journal Square Plaza, the alley at 10 Path Plaza beside it, and the Justice William Brennan Courthouse as the exterior of Wayne Hall.
Recent and current productions include Here Comes the Flood, 42.6 Years, Little Brother, Don’t Say Good Luck, The Beast in Me, Mr. Irrelevant, The Family McMullen and An Innocent Girl.
Liberty State Park, which carries The Godfather, Men in Black, Annie, Rising Sun and The Sopranos, among others.
Two. Cinelease Studios at Caven Point, the first purpose-built studio in New Jersey in over 40 years, and Parlay Studios on the Mana Contemporary campus near Journal Square.
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