5 Singapore landmarks that star in Hitman: Agent 47
This is the week where you take your patriotic souls and spend good money to watch Hitman: Agent 47: Hollywood’s SG50 gift to the Singapore Tourism Board.
And according to it, this is the draw of Singapore: Warm, has advanced medical technologies, people speak English, Tamil and Chinese and has orchids.
We stalked the production last May, and it was a joy trying to piece together filming locations we covered with the scenes in the movie.
Also, it’s such fun seeing Singapore landmarks in a Hollywood movie. Here are some of the landmarks I spotted. Did you see them too?
1. Parkroyal at Pickering
(Source: Parkroyal at Pickering)
Aside from being the hotel where the stars from Hitman stayed, Parkroyal at Pickering had the full Hollywood treatment. Its exterior, lobby, swimming pool, lift and the car park entrance all turned up in the movie.
Oh, and there’s that gratuitous shot of Hannah Ware swimming in the pool against the Singapore skyline. Sorry to burst your bubble, but we are pretty sure that was a stunt double’s back you were looking at.
(Source: Youtube)
Fun fact: If you peer really closely at the windows where Agent 47 fights off intruders in the hotel room, you might just see Parliament house and the Supreme Court winking at you.
2. ITE Central
(Source: Youtube)
If you look really closely at the scene where Agent 47 and Katia fight off gunmen in a factory/hangar, you can see the ITE logo peeking at you.
ITE Central College has its own aerospace hanger and these two vehicles (blue and orange) belong to ITE too. So, don’t be deceived by the film editing: that shot was filmed in Singapore, and not Berlin like the film editors would like you to think.
3. Marina Barrage
(Source: www.news.gov.sg)
When we broke news that Angelababy was cast in Agent 47, we had hopes that she wouldn’t be that token Asian character. Sadly, she was.
Angelababy’s moment of Hollywood glory was limited to her making calls from Marina Barrage. And now we will always have the mental image that Angelababy is waiting 24/7 at the Marina Barrage to call someone.
4. Gardens by the Bay
(Source: Gardens by the Bay)
Forget the newly UNESCO Heritage-crowned Botanical Gardens - the staggering views at Gardens by the Bay were what drew first-time director Aleksander Bach to shoot in Singapore.
The Cloud Forest and the OCBC skywalk get their 5 minutues of fame, as orchids and supertrees anchor a core emotional scene where a character reunites with her father.
Also, In a hilariously, badly cut scene, the father and daughter walk seamlessly from the bridge in the Cloud Dome to the Skywalk. It’s a feat that is not only physically impossible but also silly, especially when you consider that the Cloud Forest’s temperature is much more pleasing that being out in the scorching sun.
5. Robinson Road
(Source: Youtube)
Car chase scenes are de rigeur for all action movies, and Hitman: Agent 47 is no different - a key action scene takes place in the middle of Robinson Road
Background: Robinson Road was closed for four days last year to accommodate the filming of a key action scene, and most of the cars in the traffic are Comfort Delgro cabs.
In case you were wondering, the cab drivers there are real: The drivers told us that they had been asked by the company to drive their cabs to the set.
So if you had trouble booking Comfort last year, know that their cabs were busy at a Hollywood production.
Gillian Ang is the co-founder of Geek Crusade, a pop-culture news website dedicated to tracking all your favorite TV Shows and movies from rumour to screen. #Jointhecrusade for up to date fandom news for Sherlock, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Marvel and DC movies and many, many more. Tweets go out at @geekcrusade. The views expressed are her own.
