Utah turns radioactive wasteland in new Amazon TV series
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Utah has been the stage for several of Hollywood’s greatest hits. Now it can add “radioactive wasteland” to its list of titles.
The highly anticipated live-action adaptation of “Fallout” — a hit video game series with more than 20 years of history — was released on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, April 12, and part of it was filmed in Utah.
The series tells the stories of the world’s citizens stuck in a 1950s-esque steampunk setting after an apocalyptic nuclear fallout. Those who survived the blasts on the surface scrape by day-to-day in the wastelands above while the more luxurious residents who escaped before the fallout live sheltered lives in underground “Vaults.” Much like any post-apocalyptic story, survivors form different government-like factions, such as the militaristic armored-suit-wielding Brotherhood of Steel.
Utahns watching the Fallout TV series may recognize the Brotherhood of Steel base as the expansive and flat western portion of Utah. According to the Utah Film Commission, Wendover Airfield in Utah provided the backdrop for the base of the Brotherhood of Steel through the first three episodes.
The Wendover Airfield was built in the late 1930s and was used during World War II for bombing and gunnery ranges. The site was once hailed as the “largest bombing and gunnery range in the world” spanning over 1.8 million acres of uninhabited desert and salt flats. The airbase serves as the perfect backdrop for the Fallout series and not just because of its military connections.
In 1944, the airfield became a building and testing range for what would eventually become the “Fat Man” – or atomic – bomb. It was chosen for its isolation and ability for discretion and security.
In the series, Maximus, one of the show’s main characters played by Aaron Moten, is seen training with the Brotherhood of Steel at the Wendover airbase. According to Amazon, Maximus will “do anything to further the Brotherhood’s goals of bringing law and order to the wasteland.”
This isn’t the first time the Wendover airbase has been used as the setting for a movie. The historic site also made appearances in Will Smith’s “Independence Day” released in 1996 as well as 1997’s “Con Air” starring Nicolas Cage and 2003’s “Hulk” starring Eric Bana.
The Fallout series is just the latest release to be filmed in the Beehive State with more being released later this year. The show has a TV-MA rating but has so far scored favorably with critics, holding a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes as of Friday morning.
The Utah Film Commission told ABC4 that the filming was done in the fall of 2022 and generated over $5 million in economic spending for the Beehive State for cast, crew, background actors, catering, equipment and more.
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