Philly en pantalla: 33 películas y series de televisión ambientadas en Filadelfia

Tina Fey, originaria de Upper Darby, protagoniza en esta comedia de 2008 sobre una ejecutiva estirada de casi 40 años y su descarada madre sustituta de South Philly (Amy Poehler). Busca AMOR Parque y Rittenhouse Square en escenas de la película, ambientada en Philly pero rodada en su mayor parte en Nueva York.

Fey suele mencionar su ciudad natal en el escenario y en la pantalla. Ha creado varios sketches (recuerden Denise y Doreen?) exagerando el acento Philly en Saturday Night Live, y escribió el guión de la película de culto Chicas Malas (2004) — basado en el libro de Rosalind Wiseman Las reinas y las aspirantes y está inspirada en la época que Fey pasó en la preparatoria Upper Darby. 

Idris Elba y Caleb McLaughlin forman un dúo de padre e hijo en este 2021 Netflix western que presenta una historia ficticia sobre el Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club, el Norte de Filadelfiaun centro ecuestre y un club que enseña a los jóvenes a montar y cuidar caballos. 

Rodada en Filadelfia, la película no solo muestra las mismas calles en las que los habitantes locales suelen encontrarse con caballos detenidos en los semáforos en rojo, sino que también cuenta con la participación de algunos miembros del club hípico real, entre ellos Jamil Prattis e Ivannah Mercedes. 

Fundado por Ellis “Ell-Dog” Ferrell en 2004, el Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club se esfuerza por preservar una tradición centenaria de vaqueros negros urbanos, al tiempo que ofrece un refugio seguro para los jóvenes a través de la equitación. En 2026, el cortometraje documental Calle Fletcher se publicó, en el que se comparten historias inspiradoras de los niños que participan en el programa. 

’Confía en el proceso», ¿no? El icónico lema de los 76ers de Filadelfia hace una aparición especial en esta película de baloncesto que te hace sentir bien sobre un cazatalentos de la NBA en mala racha llamado Stanley Sugarman (interpretado por Adam Sandler). 

Filadelfia tiene un papel protagónico en esta película de 2022, con impactantes escenas filmadas en lugares emblemáticos de la ciudad como el Capitolo Playground, el Wells Fargo Center (ahora Xfinity Mobile Arena), el Tom Gola Arena, Manayunk, Girard College, Hotel Loews Philadelphia, el bar «Ray’s Happy Birthday» y más. 

Sandler, quien luce sudaderas con motivos de Philly a lo largo de toda la película, también se asegura de rendir homenaje a los fanáticos de Philly, famosos por su volubilidad. “Filadelfia, nena, te va a encantar”, dice Sugarman en un momento. “Los mejores aficionados al deporte del mundo… bueno, en realidad los peores, pero eso es lo que los hace los mejores”.”

Basada en la historia real de Vince Papale, un mesero local que se presenta a las pruebas abiertas de 1976 para el Águilas de Filadelfia y entra al equipo, esto La película «Positivamente Philly» de 2006 La película, protagonizada por Mark Wahlberg, se rodó en varios lugares de la ciudad. 

La escena final de la película —cuando Papale anota un touchdown— se filmó en Campo Franklin, aunque se editó en posproducción para que se pareciera más al antiguo Estadio de los Veteranos en el producto final. Nota: Las tomas exteriores del Bar de Max se rodaron en el Rosewood Bar, en South Philly. Todavía tienen objetos de recuerdo en exhibición. 

La prisión de Holmesburg, en el noreste de Filadelfia, fue el escenario de muchas de las escenas carcelarias de la película de 2009 Ciudadano respetuoso de la ley, Philly, un drama policíaco protagonizado por Jamie Foxx y Gerard Butler. El City Hall también aparece mucho en la película.

Según el director F. Gary Gray, eligieron Filadelfia como lugar de rodaje porque la arquitectura histórica de la ciudad, especialmente las chimeneas y los puentes, encajaba con el ambiente neo-noir que buscaban para la película. 

Este peculiar 1987 comedia romántica se centra en un escaparatista (Andrew McCarthy) que trabaja en una tienda por departamentos de Filadelfia y en su relación con un maniquí que cobra vida (Kim Cattrall). 

Filming primarily took place in the former Wanamaker Building at 13th and Market streets — shuttered in 2025 — as well as at the old Gallery Mall, now home to Fashion District Philadelphia.

This 2008 feel-good película about one family’s life with a poorly behaved yet lovable yellow Labrador retriever is based on the autobiographical book by writer and former Philadelphia Inquirer columnist John Grogan. Fun fact: The movie is based on this newspaper column, which Grogan wrote about his 100-pound Labrador. 

The stone farmhouse that the family relocates to in Pennsylvania is actually located in Chadds Ford, while other scenes were filmed on location in Philadelphia around Broad and Walnut streets.

El descubrimiento por un historiador de un mapa secreto del tesoro en el reverso de la Declaración de Independencia aviva el fuego Tesoro Nacional (2004), the Nicolas Cage vehicle that was filmed partially in the original birthplace of liberty and inspired an equally thrilling 2007 sequel. 

In the movie, an epic chase takes place through Plaza Washington y Reading Terminal Market, y otras escenas se ruedan en The Franklin Institute, Independence Hall, y el Liberty Bell Centro (where Cage’s character believes a clue is hidden).

In 2026, the Philadelphia Visitor Center hosted a panel discussion with the National Treasure Hunt podcast and director Jon Turteltaub where plans for a third installment of the movie franchise were anunciado. 

This gritty crime drama, set in South Philadelphia, follows a group of neighborhood barflies who ignite a dangerous street war after the bar owner’s daughter turns up dead from a drug overdose. 

Not for Nothing (2022) is a passion project from local filmmakers Frankie Tartaglia and Tim Dowlin — the duo met at the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts — and draws on strong familial bonds in what can be best described as a modern-day mafia film. 

The film was shot on location, with purposeful odes to the Italian-American community including scenes at Capitolo Park, Pat’s and Geno’s, as well as Connie’s Ric Rac — the now-closed live music venue and bar that once stood in the Italian Market. 

Este 1993 drama legal set (and filmed) in Philadelphia was one of the first big-budget Hollywood films to address HIV/AIDS and change the national conversation about the disease. 

The film stars Tom Hanks, who won the Academy Award for his lead role as the successful lawyer who sues his firm (in the BNY Mellon Center building in Center City) when he’s fired for having AIDS. 

In a pivotal scene, fellow lawyer Denzel Washington grabs a sandwich from Famous 4th Street Deli and heads to the library to meet Hanks’ character, where he finally agrees to represent him in court. The powerful courtroom scenes take place at City Hall.

There might be no other fictional character as synonymous with Philadelphia as Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa, the aspiring boxer and determined underdog in the Academy Award-winning film Rocky (1976). 

Since his first famous run up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the original franchise has spawned five sequels. It also led to a super-successful spinoff franchise with 2015’s Credo, 2018’s Credo II and 2023’s Credo III, which follow Balboa’s training of Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan), the son of the hometown boxer’s former rival and friend Apollo Creed. Check out our guía a todos los lugares memorables que aparecen en estas películas.

In 2026, as part of Temporada difícil and the 50th anniversary of the first Rocky movie, a new film called Interpreto a Rocky landed in theaters. In it, Anthony Ippolito plays a young Sylvester Stallone and chronicles the actor’s own million-to-one shot. 

Set in Philadelphia, this 2019 DC Comics película about a teenage boy named Billy (Asher Angel) who can turn himself into an adult superhero (Zachary Levi) simply by saying “Shazam!” features a bunch of city visuals. 

Though it was mostly filmed in Toronto, one scene shows Billy and his brother sitting on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, looking out at the Parque Benjamin Franklin y Logan Square.

Montgomery County native Bradley Cooper stars as Pat, a former teacher with bipolar disorder who, after a stint in a psychiatric hospital, obsesses over reconciling with his ex-wife in this critically acclaimed 2012 film set in and around Upper Darby. 

The town’s Llanerch Diner gets noteworthy screen time when Pat meets Tiffany (played by Jennifer Lawrence, who won an Academy Award for the role) there for “not a date,” and she offers to help him connect with his ex-wife. 

Other memorable scenes include Pat’s fight at the Wells Fargo Center parking lot ahead of an Eagles game and the climax of the movie: the dance competition, filmed at Ballroom at the Ben.

¿Sabías que una de las escenas más memorables del clásico de ciencia ficción La Mancha (1958) se rodó en Phoenixville? En el película, petrified patrons run frantically out of the historic Colonial Theatre in an attempt to get away from the rampaging, gelatinous creature. 

Every July, the weekend-long Blobfest brings locals out to celebrate the town’s claim to fame at the iconic theater with several screenings of the film and a recreation of the unforgettable scene.

Un dato curioso: La Mancha is also the film playing at the drive-in when Danny Zuko (John Travolta) and Sandy Olsson (Olivia Newton-John) endure a disastrous first date in the hit musical Grasa. 

Though not filmed in Philly, this witty comedia romántica centers on the upcoming nuptials of an uppity socialite from Philadelphia’s Main Line and hijinks that ensue when her ex-husband and a tabloid reporter looking for a scoop show up the day before her wedding. 

The main character, played by Katharine Hepburn, was inspired by real-life socialite Helen Hope Montgomery Scott and the set was modeled after her family’s estate, Ardrossan. The 1940 film — one of the earliest and most highly regarded rom-coms — also stars Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart.

Prolific filmmaker and Philly native M. Night Shyamalan makes a point to shoot his movies in his hometown. He sets El sexto sentido (1999) in Philadelphia where Bruce Willis’ character lives at 20th and Delancey streets and wanders into many iconic Philly landmarks. For example, he meets the troubled boy played by Haley Joel Osment for the first time inside St. Augustine’s Roman Catholic Church in Old City. 

Other featured landmarks include Peirce College, Butcher & Singer, and 2302 St. Albans Place, where a movie-prop bench is now a permanent fixture. 

Additionally, the Greater Philadelphia region gets notable screen time in other Shyamalan productions, including 2002’s Señales (filmed around Bucks County),  2008’s El acontecimiento (featuring Ridley Creek State Park in Delaware County), and 2004’s The Village (set in a field off Cossart Road in Chester County).

The Watermelon Woman (1996) is a landmark in the New Queer Cinema genre, and the first feature film directed by a Black lesbian woman. It chronicles the story of Cheryl, a video-store clerk and budding filmmaker, and her quest to make a documentary about an elusive actress from the 1930s. 

The movie explores complicated themes of interracial relationships and LGBTQ+ issues, serving as a metaphor for Cheryl’s own search for identity. 

Now 30 years old, this groundbreaking movie — directed by and starring Cheryl Dunye — puts famed Philly spots like the Biblioteca Libre de Filadelfia and the Philadelphia Museum of Art on display, as well as callouts to Giovanni’s Room and the now-closed TLA Video store on South Street. 

You had us at Paul Newman. This 1959 legal drama tells the tale of a young lawyer attempting to climb the city’s social ladder while balancing professional and personal happiness. The plot centers around Newman’s character, Tony Lawrence, as he defends his college friend on a murder charge. 

Shot on a backlot in Los Angeles, the film leans hard into old-school Philadelphia with nods to Rittenhouse Square, South Philly (called “South Side” in the film) and the  Main Line suburbs. The film is based on the 1956 best-selling novel The Philadelphians, written by local author Richard Pitts Powell. 

En this classic 1983 comedia, Louis Winthorpe (Dan Aykroyd), un ejecutivo engreído, y Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy), un estafador, cambian de vida como parte de una apuesta entre dos hermanos ricos. En Rittenhouse Square, Billy Ray pretends to have no legs and asks strangers for money before his life is changed. 

Near the Pinza escultura frente a Parque Dilworth, Louis meets Ophelia (Jamie Lee Curtis), who offers to help him when his credit cards are confiscated. The Wells Fargo Building, the Instituto Curtis y Independence Hall all make cameos as well.

Imprisoned man James Cole travels back in time to try to save the world from a killer disease in this 1995 thriller oscuro de ciencia ficción starring Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt. Cole comes to Philly from the future and lands out front of City Hall. 

Eventually, he is incarcerated at Eastern State Penitentiary. Memorial Hall, Delaware Power Station, and a pre-renovation Met Filadelfia también aparecen en esta sombría película.

This neo-noir crime thriller, starring Harrison Ford, starts with the murder of an undercover cop at Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station — witnessed by an eight-year-old Amish boy. It winds through Amish country as a detective searches for the truth while uncovering police corruption. 

Considered a sleeper hit (the movie grossed $117 million at the box office), Witness (1985) mostly uses the agrarian setting of Lancaster County, including the Paul Krantz Farm in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, to paint the picture of childhood innocence stolen. 

Now in its sixth season, Quinta Brunson’s Emmy-winning mockumentary sitcom keeps getting better with age. The show is set at the fictional Willard R. Abbott Elementary School in West Philadelphia, named after Joyce Abbott, Brunson’s real-life sixth-grade teacher. 

The list of cameos is longer than the Schuylkill River — from Hollywood celebrities Kevin Hart, Bradley Cooper, Keegan-Michael Key and Taraji P. Henson to professional athletes Kyle Schwarber, Jalen Hurts, Tyrese Maxey and Jaylen Brown — and the jokes always resonate whether you’re a Philly native or not.

Cue up the classic episode where Janine (Brunson’s character) teaches Philly jargon. 

This coming-of-age sitcom hits on nostalgia for kids-turned-adults from the 1990s. In it, Cory Matthews (played by Ben Savage) navigates adolescence (the pains and joys!) through life lessons from his next-door neighbor Mr. Feeny. 

Un chico conoce el mundo (1993-2000) also delivers hometown takes on how a teenage boy figures out how to delicately balance a romantic relationship while keeping his best friend happy. It is set in the fictional town of Cedar Heights, located in the Philadelphia suburbs. 

Kathryn Morris plays a detective — the only woman on her homicide unit in Philadelphia — who works unsolved cases, seeking justice for all the victims she can in este drama criminal (2003-2010). 

The show — primarily filmed in Los Angeles — was shot in Philly several times over the course of its seven seasons to get proper visuals of places like City Hall, El Templo masónico y Fuente conmemorativa de Swann.

Aunque El Príncipe de Bel-Air (1990-1996) wasn’t set in Philly, Will Smith’s character was — as the wildly catchy theme song goes — born and raised in West Philadelphia. 

Smith infuses his character with an authentic Philly personality and demeanor on the hit sitcom, which probably wasn’t a stretch, considering the actor is famously from West Philly, too. Though Los Angeles is the primary setting, the show is still widely associated with Philly and considered a must-watch by residents.

A spin-off series simply titled Bel-Air landed on Peacock in 2022 and features several Philadelphia scenes as the show tells the Fresh Prince’s origin story. The iconic basketball court where Will “got in one little fight” is the Roberto Clemente Park and Playground en Fairmount. 

Jenkintown is the setting of this family sitcom based on the creator and showrunner’s real-life experiences growing up in the 1980s in suburban Philadelphia. 

Though the show isn’t filmed in the city, characters dressed in vintage Flyers tees and references to places like Jenkintown’s Hiway Theater, the bar Buckets and, of course, Wawa add real Philly authenticity to the show, which ran from 2013 to 2023.

En el emocionante drama jurídico Cómo salir impune de un asesinato (2014-2020), lawyer and law professor Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) teaches at the fictional Middletown University, a stand-in for the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia. 

Though not filmed in the city, visuals of the skyline and City Hall are often shown, with a few scenes from the pilot episode shot at suburban schools Bryn Mawr College and Ursinus College due to their Ivy League aesthetic. 

While the Philadelphia Police Department is portrayed via a Hollywood set in California, the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office likes to pay homage to the show’s heroine on social media whenever possible.

Este comedia de larga duración — a massive hit since its pilot in 2005 — follows the hilarious antics of a group of friends and family running a neighborhood Irish pub in Philadelphia. 

The show films mostly in Los Angeles, but returns to Philly occasionally for episodes like season three’s La pandilla se vuelve invencible, where Dennis (Glenn Howerton), Mac (Rob McElhenney) and Dee (Kaitlin Olson) take part in the Philadelphia Eagles’ open tryouts, à la Vince Papale in Invencible. Fuente conmemorativa de Swann, Helium Comedy Club, el Italian Market y aparecen manchas más reconocibles en otros episodios.

Now on its mind-boggling 18th season, the show affectionately continues to showcase Philadelphia in the best (worst?) possible light. The pub’s inspiration remains grounded in brick and mortar, at 228 Race Street in Old City. 

Kate Winslet’s turn as a Delaware County police detective investigating the murder of a teenage single mother introduced the world to Rolling Rocks and hoagies, with Winslet admitting to frequenting Wawa to better learn the distinct Delco dialect. 

Yegua de Easttown (2021) was filmed on location in multiple Pennsylvania suburbs, including Wallingford, Marcus Hook, Chadds Ford, Boothwyn and Coatesville, plus a special scene shot at St. Michael’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germantown. 

Running since 2022, this action-packed crime thriller switches settings each season, but Season 4 is a love letter to Philadelphia. Jack Reacher, played on screen by Alan Ritchson, is a former major in the U.S. military who looks to curb a terrorist conspiracy following a chance encounter with a woman on the subway. 

Based on Lee Child’s 2009 novel Gone Tomorrow, the fourth season pulls you right in during Episode 1 with a close-up nightscape of the William Penn statue atop City Hall, then takes viewers on a greatest-hits list of new Philly favorite destinations. The main character’s first speaking part even shows him ordering a “wiz wit” cheesesteak. 

From Uptown Beer Garden to The Rail Park to Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens, the show captures the essence of living in America’s Most Walkable City.

Tarea (2025) relays the story of Tom Brandeis (played by Mark Ruffalo), a former priest turned FBI agent who gets thrust into an investigation involving a string of violent robberies targeting drug stash houses. 

Created by Brad Ingelsby (the same brain behind Yegua de Easttown), the hard-hitting TV drama delves deep into the underworld of motorcycle gangs and corrupt cops while effortlessly sliding in homespun Delaware County accents. 

Set in the working-class suburbs, Tarea never has to remind you where you are. The show features famed Philly brands like Ralph’s Italian Restaurant and Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard, plus hoagies from A Cut Above Deli and chases through Parque del Valle de Wissahickon and Ridley Creek State Park. Oh, and you can’t miss that Phillies souvenir cup frequently attached to Brandeis’ hand. 

Note: Season 2 started filming in July 2026. 

Co-created by Lower Merion High School alum Marshall Herskovitz, this angst-filled drama (1987-1991) set in Philadelphia follows seven thirtysomethings trying to navigate their morals and ideals while transitioning from rebellious youngsters into middle-class adult yuppies. 

Treinta y tantos, set in various Philly-area locales like Bryn Mawr and Chestnut Hill, was well received and won 13 Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards over the course of its four seasons. 

Tires is a workplace comedy series centered around the absurdities happening at Valley Forge Automotive Center’s West Chester branch. 

Starring stand-up comedian Shane Gillis, along with Steve Gerben and Stavros Halkias, this Netflix comedy series is about a failing chain of car repair shops. The plot follows the harebrained schemes the crew comes up with to increase sales and, ultimately, save the shop from corporate takeover. 

There are multiple callouts to Philly throughout the show, including beers from Sacred Vice Brewing as well as references to Belmont, Wayne and Springfield. Filming took place at real auto shops in and around the West Chester area — Tires Etc., Fitzgerald’s Tire & Auto Service, and Caliber Collision, to name a few. 

Philadelphia is a hotbed for creative film directors and movie producers, with some serious street cred attached to the area. Here are a few of the biggest names to inspire stage and screen — each with Philly roots:

• M. Night Shyamalan: El sexto sentido put the Penn Valley, Pennsylvania native on the map, but every project he touches seems to have some kind of Philadelphia or Bucks County connection (see: The Village, The Happening, Signs, Split, Glass, Unbreakable, etc.) Not only that, Shyamalan can usually be found sitting courtside at Philadelphia 76ers games.
• Brian De Palma: The son of a prominent orthopedic surgeon at Thomas Jefferson University, De Palma set his 1981 thriller Reventón in Philadelphia, shouting out Penn's Landing, Reading Terminal Market, Henry Avenue Bridge and other landmarks. His cinematic work speaks for itself: Mission Impossible (1996), Carrie (1976), Scarface (1983), Carlito’s Way (1993), The Untouchables (1987), etc.
• Sidney Lumet: Born in Philadelphia to Yiddish actors in 1924, Lumet was a member of the inaugural class of the New York Actors Studio and earned multiple Academy Award nominations as a film director. Famous movies include 12 Angry Men (1957), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), The Verdict (1982), Serpico (1973) and Prince of the City (1981).
• David Lynch: The man behind Twin Peaks and the original Dune movie moved to Philadelphia to study painting at the Academia de Bellas Artes de Pensilvania in 1965 and stuck around for six years. He credits those formative years with opening his mind — and the Callowhill neighborhood with inspiring his 1977 debut feature film Cabeza Borradora.
• Bradley Cooper: Perhaps known better as an actor, the Jenkintown native is a rising star producer in Hollywood. His directorial debut, A Star Is Born (2018), received eight Oscar nominations, with the song Shallow winning for Best Original Song. Cooper has also directed Maestro (2023) and Is This Thing On? (2025).