Warm Bodies is a zombie-romcom-apocolyptic-action movie starring Nicholas Hoult, John Malkovich, Rob Corddry, and Teresa Palmer. It was released in 2013 and was filmed in Montreal.
Mirabel Airport
Much of the film takes place at a desolate airport where many of the zombies dwell. These scenes were filmed at Montreal’s Mirabel Airport. It was built to replace the older Dorval (now Trudeau) Airport, and was fairly busy from the 1970s-1990s. But airlines preferred to have just 1 airport in the city, and flights mostly moved back to Dorval. Some charter airlines like Air Transat continued to use Mirabel until 2004, when the airport ended all commercial use.
Here is an awesome photo my friend Alex took as he flew over Mirabel several years ago.
While the airport still operates for cargo services, the terminal remained out-of-use and abandoned. This made it a perfect place for filming, as they had a full terminal to use without disrupting any passengers. Filming took place inside the terminal, as well as the approach road, and the tarmac.
After filming, the terminal was demolished, and is now an empty field. A private company currently uses part of the tarmac for motorsports.
Olympic Stadium
The Olympic Stadium in Montreal was used for some of the chase scenes in Warm Bodies. In addition, the final climax features the (heavily CGI edited) exteriors of the stadium as R and Julie fall several stories into the water below.
In addition to adding extra stories to the stadium, the attached tower was also edited out of the film. The water that they land in is currently covered by a wooden base, as much of the stadium’s facilities are closed due to Covid 19.
If you are visiting, the area has a number of other interesting attractions, including the Biodome, the Planetarium, and the Montreal Botanical Garden.
Several other films have used the Olympic Stadium for filming as well, including Blades of Glory and The Sum Of All Fears.
Residential Street
For scenes of the residential street, a neighbourhood north of Montreal was selected. One main house was used, but the entire neighbourhood was covered in dirt and litter to make it look abandoned for the film. In addition, a couple houses in the background have been built since the filming occured.
Abandoned City
Scenes of a columned building in the abandoned city were filed at the Sunlife building in downtown Montreal. The street was filled with litter and they added a wall in the background using CGI to show where the barrier of the military compound was.
Military Compound
Scenes of the military compound, including the park that housed cows, were filmed at Parc Saint Jean in Old Montreal. The building can be seen in several shots.
City Skyline
As Julie ventures back to the walled city, the view of the Montreal skyline was taken from Parc Bonaventure. This area was a highway going into the city at the time of filming, but has since been transformed into a park area.
Abandoned Alleyway
During the film, R walks through a small alleyway and passes a couple goats. This was filmed on a small street in Old Montreal.
Old Mansion
One pivotal scene in Warm Bodies features R sneaking into the military compound to visit Julie. He tracks her down at an old mansion, where she is sitting on the balcony, in a scene inspired by Romeo and Juliet. These scenes were filmed at the historic Mount Stephen Hotel.
She brings him inside and hides him in a room upstairs. These interior scenes, including the ornate staircase, were also filmed at the Mount Stephen Hotel.
