Wait, is that Israel? Spoiler alert: no.

 

These three films may appear to have been filmed in Israel, but theperception is far from the reality. From Tunisian landscapes to Maltese fortresses, we've got the truth on where these Holy Land films were actually shot.

 

 

The most recent film to take place in Israel is World War Z, starring Hollywood heart-throb Brad Pitt as a former UN investigator traveling the world to prevent the inevitable zombie pandemic. Although the film’s climatic scenes take place in Jerusalem, it was not actually filmed there. It does, however, show hundreds of thousands of zombies wreaking havoc through the seemingly-realistic streets of Jerusalem’s Old City, which, in reality, were actually shot on Fort St. Elmo in Valletta, Malta.

 

Although the actual story of The Passion of the Christ took place in Israel, the well-known film was not shot in the motherland, but instead, in Italy. The 2004 hit, starring Mel Gibson, depicts the final twelve hours of Jesus’ life, on the day of his crucifixion in Jerusalem. However, it was not even shown in theaters in Israel - because of its controversy, Israeli distributers did not put in any requests to screen it.

 

This cult classic tells the story of a young Jewish boy named Brian who is born on the same day as his neighbor, Jesus Christ. Consequently, he is always mistaken for the Messiah. The satire became box office gold and has been consistently named as one of the funniest movies of all time. Yet, despite its plot, all of the Holy Land’s fortresses, old city walls and biblical landscapes are, in fact, locations filmed in Tunisia.