‘Fountain of Youth' locations: behind the scenes on Guy Ritchie's globe-trotting heist adventure

Time Out

23-05-2025

Guy Ritchie's new adventure movie, Fountain of Youth, is a globe-trotting caper in the spirit of National Treasure and that all-time classic, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. There's clues, a treasure map, stolen portraits, subsea wrecks and a powerful McGuffin that people will die to keep safe – and that John Krasinski's artefact hunter will risk it all to pinch.
A Quiet Place 's Krasinski plays Luke Purdue, an adventurer who teams up with his reluctant sister Charlotte (Natalie Portman) on a quest to find the mythical Fountain of Youth. Domhnall Gleeson's terminally ill tycoon provides financial backing, hopeful that water from the mythical spring will cure him. Queuing up to stop them are ruthless agent Esme (Mexican star Eiza González), a detective played by Succession 's Arian Moayed, and more than is a few twists and turns.
Fountain of Youth Filmed filming locations
The Apple TV+ movie has Apple money behind it, which means big action set pieces and iconic international backdrops for them to play out against. We asked Guy Ritchie's long-time production designer Martyn John (The Gentleman) to talk us through the film's globe-spanning filming spots.
The scooter chase – Bangkok, Thailand
Fountain of Youth opens with Purdue in possession of an item that his adversaries want very badly. Cue a madcap chase through Thailand's bustling capital city as the treasure hunter tries to outrun his foes on a flaming scooter. 'Bangkok was amazing,' says John of the location. 'We shot in Chinatown and used this derelict building in another part of the city for the chase sequence with the bike. We dressed it as if people lived there – with a laundrette and a food market.'
The train journey – Hua Lamphong Train Station, Bangkok
The sequence ends on a train at Bangkok's main train station, where Purdue encounters the mysterious Esme for the first time. Via the magic of editing, the scene transitions from a real train to an on-set recreation. 'Because John [Krasinski] is very tall, we had to expand a train carriage on set to make it easier for us to film,' explains the production designer. 'Sections of it came off for the fight sequence.'
The National Gallery painting theft – Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
For a film full of sleight of hand, it's fitting that Guy Ritchie manages to pull off one of his own: the scenes set in London aren't London at all but Liverpool. When Luke Purdue reunites with his sister and steals a painting from The National Gallery, it's actually Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery. 'Filming around Trafalgar Square is a nightmare because it's so busy,' explains John. 'We looked at other galleries around London, but the Walker Art Gallery was [perfect]: it's Georgian, it's stone, it's very similar architecturally to The National Gallery.'
The London getaway chase – Dale Street, Liverpool
The heist spills into another breakneck chase across London. This was filmed on Liverpool's Dale Street. 'Doing a car chase in London is nigh-on impossible,' says John. '[But] Dale Street could be anywhere in London.'
The piano recital – Harrow School, London
In a scene filmed at Harrow School, Purdue stops in at his nephew's piano recital. 'We wanted to go to the Royal Albert Hall, but the dates didn't work.' says John. 'The boys' school in Harrow has this amazing, semi-circular auditorium.'
The Lusitania sequence – Leavesden Studios, Hertfordshire
Purdue and his sister's treasure hunt leads them below the waves – or very close to them – when they board the sunken passenger liner RMS Lusitania. Rather than the southern coast of Ireland, the vessel's resting place, a section of the ship was reconstructed at Leavesden and in Pinewood's underwater tanks using hydraulics systems. 'The design is an amalgamation of the Titanic and the Lusitania,' says John, 'because we [needed a specific layout] for the stunts.'
The Old Queen's Head, Islington
A later encounter between Purdue and his nemesis Esme takes place in a chic London bar. Eagle-eyed Bridget Jones fans might recognise it: Islington's The Old Queen's Head also featured in Mad About the Boy earlier this year. 'You need so much space [to film] and The Old Queen's has lots of it,' says John. 'Guy [Ritchie] likes big sets with lots of depth and visual interest, so we always find those spaces for him.'
The Viennese library – Austrian National Library, Vienna
The trail of clues leads Purdue and co to Vienna's grand library in pursuit of an artefact called the Wicked Bible – a (real) antiquarian version of the bible with one or two scurrilous misprints. The production team looked at libraries in Paris, as well as Dublin's Trinity College library, before settling on the Austrian capital. 'We convinced them to let us film in there,' says John, 'but then I had to match it in a studio so we could do a fight sequence with our books in case they damaged them.'
The Viennese hotel – Hotel Imperial, Vienna
Look out for exterior shots of this five-star Viennese hotel, although the scene in its suite was filmed in the UK. 'We found an old Elizabethan house near the studio in Leavesden,' remembers John, 'and I went to town decorating it to make the suite.'
The team's safe house – Hoxton Docks, east London
The London safe house where Purdue and his team hole up was filmed at Hoxton Dock. 'It's a big warehouse in the East End,' says John, 'and that was a brilliant dress. We had all this technology and antiquity melded together in this one [space]'.
The pyramids – Giza, Egypt
Without giving anything away, the movie's climax takes its characters to the ancient pyramids at Giza. 'To be able to film with the pyramids as a backdrop was incredible, and they let us get as close as we possibly could,' remembers John. Of course, filming inside a pyramid isn't an option so he had creative license to tzujz up the ancient Egyptians' design work. Look out for a pop star Easter egg. 'I was once in a birthday cake with Grace Jones at Naomi Campbell's 40th birthday party – she was popping out of it to sing and I was working the mechanism – and I made one of the statues in the pyramid look like a Nefertiti version of Grace Jones. The actors loved that.'And the chess? 'Guy loves to play chess – they spent ages playing on set.'
When can I watch Fountain of Youth?
The Guy Ritchie adventure movie will be landing on Apple TV+ on May 23.
Is there a trailer?
There is – you can watch it below.
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