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| Where Was Mayday Filmed? All Filming Locations of Apple TV’s 2026 Movie |
Apple TV’s Mayday takes viewers from the icy wilderness of the Soviet Union to Cold War-era Moscow, but much of that 1987 world was actually created far from Russia. The 2026 action-comedy, starring Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh, was filmed across Canada, Hungary and southern France, with real streets, historic landmarks, industrial districts and purpose-built studio sets transformed to stand in for locations on both sides of the Iron Curtain.
The production ran for around fourteen weeks, with principal photography beginning on 4 March 2024 and wrapping in June that year. Montreal, Quebec, served as the main production base, while Hungary became the setting for some of the film's biggest military sequences. Southern France was used for specialist aerial photography, and a small amount of background material was captured in San Diego, California, helping establish Troy Kelly's American Navy background.
One important point for fans hunting down every corner of the film: not every precise shooting spot was publicly identified while production was taking place. That is hardly surprising when a large film set can attract curious visitors faster than the crew can shout "cut". Keeping some locations quiet also helped the production work without unwanted interruptions. The places detailed below are the specific locations identified from the production information, rather than simply naming the cities where filming took place.
Plateau Mont-Royal, Montreal, Quebec
Plateau Mont-Royal provided one of the most useful pieces of cinematic trickery in Mayday. Its older buildings and streets offered architecture that could convincingly double for parts of an Eastern European city during the 1980s. Instead of constructing an entire Soviet-style city from scratch, the production could take advantage of Montreal's existing character and reshape it through set dressing, vehicles and period details.
That makes the neighbourhood particularly interesting for viewers who enjoy spotting the real-world locations behind fictional settings. Streets that look as though they should be somewhere deep inside the Soviet Union were actually sitting in Quebec, proving once again that cinema can make geography wonderfully inconvenient.
Deli Plus, near Villeray Street and Papineau Avenue, Montreal
One of the more elaborate transformations took place at Deli Plus, near Villeray Street and Papineau Avenue. The restaurant was redesigned to resemble a fast-food establishment from 1980s San Diego, complete with period-appropriate branding and vintage vehicles.
The sequence is a good example of how Mayday uses relatively ordinary real-world locations and gives them an entirely different identity. For a film built around Cold War tensions, international espionage and military pursuits, turning a Montreal restaurant into an old-fashioned American fast-food spot is perhaps one of the more quietly amusing production decisions.
Manoir D’Youville, Châteauguay, Quebec
The historic Manoir D’Youville in Châteauguay, southwest of Montreal, was another important Canadian filming location. The property supplied a distinctive setting for mystery-driven sequences, adding an older and more atmospheric backdrop to the story.
Its location outside central Montreal also allowed the production to move away from the dense urban environment and create a different visual rhythm. For audiences watching the finished film, the location may appear far removed from Quebec, which is precisely what the filmmakers needed.
Quebec Wilderness
The wilderness areas surrounding Montreal and elsewhere in Quebec were used to create the harsh Russian landscape where Troy finds himself after his surveillance mission goes wrong. Rather than relying entirely on digital scenery, the production used rugged outdoor environments to give the survival sections a more convincing physical quality.
These landscapes become particularly important because Ryan Reynolds' Troy Kelly is not exactly enjoying a luxury holiday. After ejecting from his aircraft, he is left injured and stranded behind enemy lines, meaning the cold wilderness becomes almost another character in the story. Thankfully for the actor, at least this particular Soviet nightmare was filmed in Canada.
Heroes’ Square, Budapest
The scale of Mayday increases considerably once the production reaches Heroes’ Square in Budapest. The historic landmark was transformed into a Cold War-era Soviet setting for a major military sequence portraying 1987 Moscow.
The production reportedly filled the area with military tanks decorated with Soviet imagery and created an enormous period military display. A huge prop missile launcher also became one of the more eye-catching elements associated with filming, giving the normally recognisable Budapest landmark an entirely different identity.
For fans visiting Budapest, this is one of the most intriguing locations to compare with the finished movie. The contrast between the real historic surroundings and the militarised version created for the film shows just how much work went into making modern Hungary resemble the Soviet Union of four decades earlier.
Dózsa György Road, Budapest
Filming also extended along Dózsa György Road, which formed part of the large Budapest production zone. The road was incorporated into the same Cold War-era transformation, helping create the scale required for the military parade and street sequences.
It is another reminder that Mayday did not need to physically travel to Moscow to make Moscow appear on screen. Budapest provided the architecture, streets and space, while production design handled the rest. Hollywood geography strikes again.
Hungarian State Opera House, Budapest
The grand surroundings of the Hungarian State Opera House supplied another Budapest setting for the film. Its elaborate neo-Renaissance architecture brought a distinctly European visual quality to the production and helped expand the range of urban environments appearing throughout the story.
The location works particularly well for a film that moves between military action and political intrigue. Its architectural grandeur offers a sharp contrast to the rugged wilderness sequences, ensuring that the movie's world does not become visually repetitive.
Korda Studios, Etyek, Hungary
Some of the locations in Mayday were never intended to exist in the real world. Korda Studios in Etyek, west of Budapest, was used for specialised interior work, including the remote cabin associated with Kenneth Branagh's Nikolai "Nick" Ustinov.
Studio construction gave the filmmakers considerably more control over lighting, camera movement and the physical details of the environment. That was particularly useful for scenes involving the eccentric former KGB agent, whose unexpected fondness for American pop culture becomes one of the film's main sources of humour.
The contrast is rather fitting: while the characters are supposedly deep inside the Soviet wilderness, the actors could actually be working inside a carefully controlled Hungarian studio. Movie magic is occasionally less mysterious once you know where to look.
Vasmu Road, Dunaujvaros, Hungary
The production moved to Dunaujvaros for some of the movie's larger practical action work. Vasmu Road provided the broad setting for the sequence involving a military tank pursuing a car, allowing the filmmakers enough space to stage the large-scale vehicle movement.
Dunaujvaros has an industrial character that suited the film's Cold War aesthetic particularly well. Rather than dressing up a picturesque European location, the production could make use of an environment that already had the scale and visual character required for a major pursuit.
Lower Danube Promenade, Dunaujvaros
The Lower Danube promenade in Dunaujvaros was also incorporated into the production's action material. Its open surroundings helped the filmmakers expand the geography of the chase sequences while maintaining the sense that Troy and Nick were moving through a vast and unpredictable landscape.
For a story involving a stolen vehicle, military forces and a nuclear warhead, the production clearly had little interest in keeping things calm. The Danube setting therefore becomes part of a much larger practical-action backdrop.
Rákóczi Road, Salgótarján
The northern Hungarian city of Salgótarján hosted another substantial portion of the film's practical action. Rákóczi Road was among the specific streets used for filming, helping create the urban environments required for the film's pursuit sequences.
The production's use of multiple roads across the city also allowed the action to feel larger and more geographically varied. Instead of making one street do all the heavy lifting, the filmmakers spread the sequences across several distinct locations.
Pécskő Road, Salgótarján
Another Salgótarján location was Pécskő Road, which was incorporated into the film's street-level action material. The road contributed to the broader network of practical locations used to construct the chase sequences.
That approach gives the film's vehicle action a more grounded quality. When characters are tearing through streets rather than simply appearing in a digitally created environment, even a relatively ordinary road can suddenly become part of an international Cold War escape.
Március 15 Street, Salgótarján
Március 15 Street was also used during the Salgótarján shoot. Alongside the city's other filming spots, it helped provide the visual continuity required for the film's extended practical action sequences.
The location is another example of the production's willingness to use real Hungarian streets as part of its fictional Soviet landscape. With the right vehicles, costumes and production design, a modern European street can apparently have a surprisingly convincing 1980s alter ego.
Erzsébet Square, Salgótarján
Erzsébet Square formed another piece of the Salgótarján filming footprint. Its inclusion helped the production broaden the locations available for street tracking and action photography.
For fans tracing the movie's locations, this is exactly the sort of place that can be easy to overlook because it is not necessarily presented on screen as a recognisable tourist landmark. Yet these less glamorous locations are often what give large action films their sense of movement and scale.
Fő Square, Salgótarján
The production also filmed at Fő Square, adding another identifiable Salgótarján location to the movie. Together with Rákóczi Road, Pécskő Road, Március 15 Street and Erzsébet Square, it formed part of the wider Hungarian action-production area.
The use of several locations within the same city helped the filmmakers create the impression of a much larger journey. Troy and Nick may appear to be racing across Soviet territory, but quite a lot of that frantic travelling was actually achieved by moving around Hungary.
Southern France
A separate production unit travelled to southern France for the film's high-altitude aerial photography and fighter-jet material. These shots were captured separately from the actors' cockpit work, allowing the filmmakers to obtain authentic aerial backgrounds and flight imagery without putting the cast through the sort of experience their characters endure.
The resulting footage was then intended to support the cockpit sequences filmed on controlled stages. This combination of practical aerial photography, physical aircraft elements and stage work helped create the sensation of real flight while keeping the actors safely on the ground. A sensible arrangement, especially when the fictional mission already involves one aircraft being shot down.
San Diego, California
A small amount of background production work was also carried out in San Diego, establishing the American side of Troy Kelly's story and his connection to the US Navy. Although the movie largely travels through its fictionalised Soviet setting, these American elements are important for establishing who Troy is before his disastrous mission sends him behind enemy lines.
San Diego's connection with the US Navy also makes it a fitting choice for this part of the story. It gives the film an authentic American military backdrop before the narrative launches Troy into a very different world.
The Aircraft and Studio Work
Although not a conventional outdoor filming location, the aircraft production deserves its own mention. The cockpit scenes were filmed on controlled stages using physical aircraft elements, including a replica of an F/A-18 fighter jet and a specially constructed representation of the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird.
The approach allowed Ryan Reynolds and the rest of the cast to perform inside convincing physical environments while aerial photography captured elsewhere supplied the surrounding flight imagery. It is a fairly elaborate solution for making an actor look as though he is thousands of feet in the air without actually sending him there.
Several of the locations associated with Mayday are real public places, including parts of Montreal, Budapest, Dunaujvaros and Salgótarján, while studio environments such as Korda Studios do not function in quite the same way as ordinary tourist attractions. Historic landmarks and public streets are therefore the most practical choices for anyone hoping to recreate a few moments from the movie.
Fans should also remember that a film location is not necessarily presented exactly as it appears in real life. Production design, temporary props, vehicles, digital alterations and controlled shooting angles can radically change the appearance of a place. That means standing in the same spot does not guarantee that everything will suddenly look like 1987 Moscow. Sadly, there is no complimentary Cold War filter included.
Reaction to the locations has varied among fans, with some enjoying the discovery that so much of the supposed Soviet setting was actually filmed in Canada and Hungary, while others have been more interested in identifying the exact streets and landmarks hidden beneath the movie's period production design. The Budapest sequences in particular offer plenty for location enthusiasts to investigate, while the Montreal material demonstrates how effectively Canadian architecture can be repurposed for an entirely different part of the world.
For some viewers, the locations may simply add another layer of entertainment after the credits roll. For others, discovering that a dramatic Soviet military sequence was actually staged in Hungary is half the fun. Either way, Mayday has created a rather impressive collection of real-world filming locations for fans to explore.
As more specific production information becomes available, this guide can be updated with additional Mayday filming locations and further details about how each place was transformed for the movie. So, which location would you most like to visit for your own Mayday movie trail: the streets of Montreal, Budapest's transformed Heroes’ Square, the action locations in Salgótarján, or somewhere else entirely?