The movie Ashes to Iron was mostly shot in Hungary. The actors appear in scenes set at Vienna’s Rothschild Hospital and filmed on location at Budapest’s University of Technology and Economics.
From ash to iron
When you think of Academy Award-winning films like Poor Things, Blade Runner 2049, and The Brutalist, you might think they were made in Los Angeles.
But instead of being produced in California’s famous studios, it was all filmed primarily in one Central European country: Hungary. Hungary’s large production facilities, diverse land and urban landscapes, and generous incentives have made Hungary the epicenter of Hollywood.
This year, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom Cruise, Eddie Redmayne, Liam Hemsworth, Anne Hathaway and Dakota Fanning were reportedly spotted in the Hungarian capital Budapest and surrounding areas.
History of Hungarian film production
Hungary has been involved in film since its earliest days. The Lumière brothers, makers of cinematographic equipment, took their invention to Budapest’s Grand Hotel Royal in 1896, just a few months after its debut in Paris, and the same year they had photographers photograph the city’s landmarks.
Film director Justin Reardon, who runs the production company Royal Budapest Film Company with his wife, Barbara, said Budapest’s artists and writers “lost their minds in a good way and immediately started making their own films” after seeing the early films. He said the first Hungarian film presented for the screen was filmed on the roof of Budapest’s Palace Urania, where scientific presentations were held in 1901, but which is now a “cathedral”-like cinema.
A scene from the film Hunyadi (Rise of the Raven) filmed on January 30, 2025 at the new studio complex of the Hungarian National Film Institute near Budapest.
Attila Kisbenedek | AFP | Getty Images
Hungarians have also had a huge influence on the American film industry. Born in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Adolf Zuko immigrated to the United States at the age of 16 and co-founded Paramount Pictures in 1912. Meanwhile, William Fox (real name Vilmos Fried) was a Hungarian-American founder of the Fox film company, which became 20th Century Fox in 1935.
Actors Zsa Zsa Gabor, Tony Curtis, Rachel Weisz and Adrien Brody have Hungarian roots, and Budapest-born Gabor Choupo founded the Hollywood studio that produced the early seasons of “The Simpsons.”
“Difference in appearance”
With its grand architecture and slightly rough-around-the-edges areas, Budapest has doubled down on European cities like Paris, Berlin, and Rome in movies like Evita, Max, and Inferno.
“There’s a lot of different looks,” said producer Barbara Reardon. She says it’s easy to get around and is a welcoming place for international film executives. “Budapest has a little bit of everything. You can find green juices and healthy salads…and a lot of studio heads and actors like that, too,” she told CNBC over a video call.
Budapest has twice as many appearances as Paris, Berlin and Rome in films such as “Evita,” “Max” and “Inferno.”
Karol Zinege | 500px Plus | Getty Images
For author Judy Laufer, Budapest as a film location has a personal connection. Her family fled Budapest during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and fled across the border to Austria, then immigrated to Canada. Laufer is the producer of Ashes to Iron, an independent film that tells the story of her family, filmed in Hungary.
“It could be anywhere, unless there’s something special that tells you you’re in Budapest, like a big synagogue, for example,” said Laufer, referring to the large synagogue on Dohany Street, the main street where she spent the first year and a half of her life. Director Laufer has submitted the film to film festivals such as Sundance and Berlin, and plans to hold a private screening in Budapest later this month to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the revolution.
Other locations in Ashes to Iron include a small airport and a nature trail on the outskirts of Budapest. Barbara Reardon said the country’s proximity to several different types of landscape also makes it attractive for photography. “Outside the city, there are lakes that rival the sea,” she said of Lake Balaton, the largest freshwater lake in central Europe. “Perhaps we don’t have mountains, but today, like the surrounding countries, that is easily solved.”
“Stable” incentives
Hungarian studios cannot compete with California’s Warner Bros. Studios Burbank or Universal Studios on size, but they can compete on price. Barbara Reardon said production costs are about 30% to 50% cheaper than in the United States.
About a 20-minute drive north of Budapest is Oligo Studio. The majority of American films were filmed at this complex, including “Dune,” “Dune Part 2,” and “Inferno.” The studio has 11 stages and a four-acre backlot (where film sets for outdoor scenes are built) and was founded in 2010 in partnership with American production company Raleigh Studios, which was then run by American studio executive Michael Moore.
When CNBC visited Origo Studios in August, it was quiet. CEO Marta Fexi Horvath described the current period as a “transition period,” but added that she was “very optimistic” about future work.
Most of the movie Ashes To Iron was shot on location in Hungary.
From ash to iron
Hungary’s film industry was thrown into turmoil after former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán suspended a 30% rebate scheme on all production costs in the country. The system was reinstated in December, but the previous government also capped production for the first half of 2026, increasing uncertainty as producers tend to plan their budgets more than a year in advance.
The new government has submitted a proposal to supplement the rebates with 63 billion Hungarian forints ($193 million), Horvath said, and last month Hungary’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Anita Orbán sought to further reassure the film industry, saying the new government aims to provide a “stable and predictable framework” for the incentive system. The government wants to bring “many more” international productions to the country, she added.
local talent
One of the big productions shot in Hungary and scheduled for release in the US and UK this month is “The Wicker,” starring Olivia Colman as an ostracized bachelor fisherman and Alexander Skarsgård as her bespoke willow husband. Local co-producer Barbara Reardon said the film was shot in two medieval backyards, Korda Studios and the National Film Institute, to the west and north of the city.
Hollywood studios sometimes want to bring in their own teams to oversee certain features, or bring post-production home, the Reardons said. But Barbara said she sees a change. “‘The Wicker’…was one of the first major international films with a big international star that hired a local production designer, a local costume designer, a local hair and makeup designer,” she said.
The film’s writers and directors, Eleanor Wilson and Alex Houston Fisher, set the film “outside of any particular time and place, which meant we had to invent our own culture,” Fisher said in production notes seen by CNBC. The film’s costume designers, Hungarian András Daniel Todt and Attila Godena-Juhasz, were inspired by traditional Hungarian costumes, such as bridal headpieces with layered veils, and Wilson said the country’s folk art and tradition shaped the look of “Wicker.”
Justin Reardon said Hungary punches above its weight for a “small” country. “It’s hard to imagine that there could be such a strong group of people who could accomplish so much in such a small market.”
