Morocco: Qarzazate – Atlas Movie Studios

Time for a somewhat bizarre attraction – Atlas Corporation Studios – the world’s largest movie studios by acreage (they own the surrounding desert and mountains). Morocco is often chosen as the location for filming (just watch the last James Bond and Mission Impossible) due to its landscape, infrastructure, costs, etc. At Atlas Studios, you can roam the abandoned sets, but it’s very different from say visiting studios in LA – you are alone here, everything is crumbling under the desert sun, and you almost feel like you are the action hero on a set yourself. The Mummy series was all filmed here with massive temples built to replicate the Egyptian counterparts. Having just seen the Karnak and Luxor in Egypt just a couple weeks ago – it was quite entertaining to see the fake movie versions of the same here in Morocco – sphinx smiling, naked Egyptian goddesses dancing, and cartouche hieroglyphs being much more frivolous then the original. I may need to re-watch the Mummy.