‘Ticket to Paradise’: Where Was George Clooney and Julia Roberts’ 2022 Rom-Com Filmed?
George Clooney and Julia Roberts have appeared in several films together over the years. Most notably, they play estranged lovers in 2001’s Ocean’s Eleven. Both actors returned for the 2004 sequel, Ocean’s Twelve but have mostly appeared in much darker films over the years. So longtime fans are no doubt thrilled to see Clooney and Roberts lead the romantic comedy Ticket to Paradise. But where exactly is the “paradise” of the film’s title?
‘Ticket to Paradise’ reunites George Clooney and Julia Roberts
In addition to the two Ocean’s movies they co-starred in, Clooney and Roberts both have supporting roles in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and lead the 2016 crime thriller Money Monster. But Ticket to Paradise gives the stars the chance to let loose together onscreen for the first time in nearly 20 years. And fans of romantic comedies are understandably hyped for it.
Clooney and Roberts play a long-divorced couple who cross paths at their daughter’s (Kaitlyn Dever) wedding in Bali. Although they don’t get along, the former lovers are united in their quest to prevent their daughter from making the worst mistake of her life. While Ticket to Paradise is set in Bali, Indonesia, the movie actually filmed in a much different location.
Where ‘Ticket to Paradise’ actually filmed instead of Bali
As reported by Condé Nast Traveller, Ticket to Paradise actually filmed in Queensland, Australia. The site reveals that “the region provided a ready-made series of desert islands, ripe for a Balinese makeover.” Shooting locations included Whitsunday Island, Long Island, Haslewood Island, Hamilton Island, and Moreton Island. Tamborine Mountain – an inland rainforest – also features in the jungle scenes, as it does in films such as Thor: Ragnarok and Kong: Skull Island.
Ticket to Paradise also marks the major Hollywood debut of Maxime Bouttier, an Indonesian actor who has more than 20 mostly international credits to his name. In this film, Bouttier plays Gede, fiancé to Dever’s Lily. Ironically, Bouttier’s filmography includes a romantic drama named One Fine Day. Clooney starred opposite Michelle Pfeiffer in a 1996 romantic comedy of the same name, which marked his first and only brush with the genre until Ticket to Paradise.
Production on ‘Ticket to Paradise’ was affected by the pandemic
As Clooney and Roberts revealed, the production’s decision to film in Australia instead of Indonesia turned out to be ill-timed. Filming coincided with the COVID-19 omicron variant hitting the country. While Clooney brought his wife Amal Clooney and the kids along, Roberts had to wait two weeks to see her husband, Danny Moder, and their children after they arrived in Australia.
“The Clooneys saved me from complete loneliness and despair,” Roberts told The New York Times. “We were in a bubble, and it’s the longest I’ve ever been away from my family. I don’t think I’ve spent that much time by myself since I was 25. … When we first got to Australia and we were all quarantining, you kind of go a little bit cuckoo. … It’s a funny thing. I hadn’t really anticipated all that.”
Ticket to Paradise hits theaters on October 21, 2022.
