Brad Pitt is making headlines — not just for his acting, but for what his latest movie is doing to Greece’s tourism scene. A major Hollywood film starring Once Upon a Time In Hollywood star Brad Pitt wrapped up shooting across five locations in Greece between February 19 and March 19, 2026 — and the impact was almost instant.
The movie is called The Riders. It is directed by Edward Berger and will be released by A24. The film is based on a 1994 novel by Australian author Tim Winton. The story follows a man who travels across Europe searching for his missing family. According to the ftnnews, the production is co-financed by Brad Pitt’s own company, Plan B Entertainment, and Ridley Scott’s Scott Free Productions.
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Hydra Island Gets Packed — Weeks Early
The crew first landed on the beautiful island of Hydra on February 24, 2026. What happened next surprised even the locals. Hotels and rental homes hit 100% occupancy within days. Restaurants and cafés that usually open in spring started serving customers weeks ahead of time. Even the start date was pushed back because so many visitors arrived early just to catch a glimpse of the production.
The cast and crew on Hydra had more than 300 people. Around 250 people were fed daily using food from Greek suppliers. Local residents were hired as extras and production staff. The island’s historic port was completely transformed. A vintage 1980s Flying Dolphin hydrofoil ferry was brought in, and storefronts were redesigned to match the film’s time period.
Hydra’s Mayor Georgios Koukoudakis confirmed that the island’s tourism season started in mid-February — months earlier than normal. He said the production brought real money directly into the local community.
Fun fact: Hydra has a special place in film history. Back in 1957, the island hosted Boy on a Dolphin — the very first Hollywood movie ever filmed in Greece, starring Sophia Loren.
Filming Spreads Across Greece
After Hydra, the production moved to the Greek mainland. The crew filmed at Kotzia Square and Athens City Hall, where Athinas Street was temporarily shut down to make room for the shoot. Brad Pitt was spotted stepping out of a black SUV at the City Hall location. He briefly acknowledged the crowd that had gathered before heading inside to film scenes in the municipal registry hall.
The team then moved to Lavrio in eastern Attica, the historic railway station in Chalkida on the island of Evia, and the coastal town of Nea Makri. Pitt completed his final day of filming in Athens on March 19, 2026.
In the film, Pitt plays a character named Fred Scully — a man fixing up a farmhouse in Ireland, waiting for his wife and daughter to arrive from Australia before things take a strange and mysterious turn.
The cast also includes Julianne Nicholson, Coco Greenstone, Michael Smiley, Danny Huston, Camille Cottin, and Ulrich Thomsen. Director Edward Berger is no stranger to big wins — he previously directed All Quiet on the Western Front, which took home four Academy Awards.
Greece’s Film Rebate Program Is a Big Draw
One big reason Hollywood keeps coming to Greece is the country’s 40% film cash rebate program. This is run by the Hellenic Film and Audiovisual Centre (Ekkomed). A study from January 2026 by consultancy Olsberg SPI found that this program added €928.7 million to the Greek economy between 2018 and 2025. For every €1 of public money spent, the country got back €4.2 in value.
The program also created around 2,900 full-time jobs every year since it launched.
Leonidas Christopoulos, CEO of Ekkomed, said the audiovisual sector is one of the most efficient industries in Greece. Leon Forde, CEO of Olsberg SPI, added that Greece has strong potential to become a leading global production hub — as long as there is long-term support from all stakeholders.
The Riders joins a growing list of big productions that have filmed in Greece, including Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, and Amazon Prime Video’s House of David.
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