Hollywood in Hungary: 2025 Highlights
A year when Budapest wasn’t just a filming location — it was part of the story.
Dec 9, 2025
2025 brought Hollywood-scale productions, global premieres, and award-season headlines to Hungary. With studios expanding, virtual production accelerating, and major franchises returning, Hungary’s footprint in international filmmaking has never been bigger — or more influential.
High-Profile Hollywood and International Shoots
A number of major projects with direct Hollywood involvement were filmed in Hungary throughout 2025:
The Entertainment System Is Down (A24) — Ruben Östlund’s star-studded feature, including Keanu Reeves, was shoot in Hungary in Q1 2025.
Dune: Part Three — continuing the franchise’s long-standing relationship with Hungary’s stages and production crews.
Ponies — a Cold War era series featuring major international talent and extensive landmark Budapest exteriors.
Alpha Gang — a sci-fi comedy making significant use of local stages and on-location setups.
3 Body Problem — Season 2 and planned Season 3 — large-scale streaming work now anchored in Hungary for consecutive production cycles.
These aren’t one-off shoots — they’re long-term commitments, the kind that say Hungary is now part of global production planning, not just an attractive option on the spreadsheet.
An Expanding Studio Ecosystem
Hungary’s infrastructure growth continues to be a major draw for international productions, particularly tentpoles and high-end episodic shows. Some key 2025 developments include:
National Film Institute expansion in Fót
Increasing national studio capacity by over 20%, allowing multiple tentpole and series productions to run simultaneously.ORIGO Studios and other major complexes
Market Hungary’s 30% incentive, deep crew base, and extensive stage availability as a turnkey solution for U.S. productions.United Illusions Virtual Production Studio
Now the largest virtual production facility in Central Europe with rare ARRI accreditation, signalling high-end technical standards for LED-wall and hybrid production workflows.
The combination of traditional stages and cutting-edge virtual production makes Hungary competitive across both practical and fully digital pipelines.
New Hollywood–Hungary Partnerships
2025 marks a shift from Hungary functioning primarily as a service location to becoming a strategic innovation partner for Hollywood and global studios.
Headline partnership:
- United Illusions × Orbital Studios (Los Angeles) A newly formed strategic collaboration focused on:
co-developing virtual production workflows
exchanging technical and creative know-how
launching joint projects with shared pipeline standards
This partnership positions Hungary as Orbital’s first international partner, elevating Budapest’s role from a cost-efficient base to a global innovation hub for LED-wall and hybrid filmmaking.
The alliance specifically targets big Hollywood franchises and streamers, with the promise of making production faster, more sustainable, and more cost-effective.
Incentives, Funding, and Policy Stability
Hungary maintains one of Europe’s strongest film-incentive ecosystems — a key factor in attracting high-budget international projects.
2025 policy highlights:
30% tax rebate
Confirmed and extended through 2030, covering eligible local spend and a portion of non-local services, backed by a multi-billion-dollar budget.Government film funding increases
Allocation rises to HUF 81 billion in 2025, even as a new registration cap is introduced to manage application volume.- Competitive international positioning
Hungary remains highly attractive compared to the UK and Western Europe due to:predictable incentives
stable costs
exchange-rate advantages
deep, multilingual crews
continuously expanding infrastructure
Awards & Recognitions in 2025
Hungary’s global profile soared during the 2025 awards season as several high-profile Hollywood films shot in the country won major international prizes.
The Brutalist: Awards-Season Breakout
Shot extensively in Budapest and across Hungary, The Brutalist became one of the year’s biggest awards stories.
Golden Globes: Major wins at the 82nd ceremony, including top drama and lead performance categories.
Oscars: Earned 10 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor — and won several, making it the highest-profile Oscar winner shot in Hungary in 2025.
Dune: Part Two — Craft Dominance
Filmed partly at ORIGO Studios and Hungarian locations, the film repeated its franchise’s strong awards trajectory:
Oscars: Multiple technical wins — visual effects, sound, production design.
BAFTA + Guild Awards: Strong craft-category results across all major bodies.
LMGI Nomination: Recognition of its Budapest and Hungarian desert-stand-in locations.
Poor Things: Continued Recognition
Although primarily a 2023 title, Poor Things continued its visibility in 2024–25 industry coverage. Its Oscar and BAFTA craft wins remained touchpoints for discussions about Hungary’s world-class production design and studio expertise.
Additional Honors
Maria — Partly filmed in Hungary, received a 2025 Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography, adding further Academy recognition to Hungary-serviced work.
Overall Impact
Across the Golden Globes, Oscars, BAFTAs and key guilds, productions shot in Hungary — especially The Brutalist and Dune: Part Two — were prominently featured and widely reported as “made with Hungary’s stages and crews.”
This reinforced the global narrative of “Hollywood in Hungary” throughout the 2025 awards cycle.
Reputation and Outlook for 2025
By the end of 2024, Hungary had become Europe’s second most important production hub after the UK. 2025 didn’t just confirm that — it pushed the country further.
More stages are coming. Virtual production workflows are accelerating. Hollywood shows are planning years ahead, not months. And new partnerships are turning Budapest into a genuine innovation node.