Body of Lies Filming Locations: Casablanca & Rabat

Ridley Scott wanted to shoot his Middle East thriller in Dubai. When authorities there refused permission, Morocco took over the role. The country doubled for Jordan, Iraq, Syria and Qatar — and the real body of lies filming locations are still there to visit. The short answer to where was body of lies filmed? Mostly Morocco.

In this guide, we’ll break down the body of lies morocco locations city by city, from Casablanca and Rabat to the desert sets of the south, and explain how you can visit them on your next trip.

Casablanca — The Film’s Moroccan Base

Casablanca is the most-cited Moroccan location in the film. The production used the city’s international airport and a nearby military airfield, dressed to double for the airports and airstrips of several unnamed Middle Eastern states. Those anonymous terminals appear throughout the early act, so the city effectively plays half the region at once.

That makes Casablanca the natural start of any body of lies casablanca trail. The city is easy to reach, with a modern port, the Hassan II Mosque and a French colonial core to explore between film stops. You can cover the main sights in a relaxed afternoon.

What to look for:

• Mohammed V Airport: the terminal that stood in for several regional airports.
• The nearby airfield: a working base used for aircraft and tarmac scenes.
• City boulevards: Casablanca streets dressed as a generic Middle Eastern city.
• The old medina: a historic quarter worth pairing with your film stop.

Rabat — Embassies, Intelligence and Power

Morocco’s capital supplied the film’s corridors of power. The Ministry of Finance building was dressed as the Jordanian secret-service headquarters, giving the spy plot its official backdrop. Marble corridors and government offices lent the scenes instant authority.

A basketball stadium in Rabat became the US embassy in Jordan. Crews built a CIA office set inside so cameras could shoot interior scenes and street exteriors in one place. The conversion saved a full set build and kept the shoot on schedule.

The climactic torture scene was filmed in an ancient, windowless prison cell outside the city. It is a grim, echoing space that matches the film’s tense final act. Rabat pairs neatly with Casablanca, less than an hour away by road.

Ouarzazate and the Desert Sets

A nine-week unit shot at CLA Studios and in the desert around Ouarzazate. The sand-and-kasbah landscape stood in for Iraq, Syria and the Jordanian desert, giving the film its wide, empty horizons. The region’s dry heat and bare rock made the switch convincing.

News features pair Ouarzazate with Marrakech as the production’s Moroccan bases. Treat the wider Marrakech–Ouarzazate region as the film hub, because precise Marrakech landmarks are not documented. What you can visit is the studio complex and the desert that framed every wide shot.

Highlights:

• CLA Studios: the Ouarzazate facility that hosted the desert unit.
• Desert plains: the open sand and rock that played Iraq and Syria.
• Kasbah country: the fortified villages that frame the region.
• Studio tours: a chance to see sets and props up close.

Beyond Morocco — Washington and Europe

Morocco carried most of the shoot, but a smaller unit filmed in the United States. Principal photography began at Eastern Market in Washington D.C. Its covered market gave the opening scenes a busy, lived-in feel.

Part of Capitol Hill was dressed as a wintry Amsterdam for a car-bomb sequence. CIA headquarters scenes were shot in Maryland offices, and Baltimore stood in for Manchester and Munich. These stand-ins let the story jump between continents without leaving the mid-Atlantic.

None of this is essential to the Morocco trail, and you can safely skip this leg on a film-location trip. It does explain why the film feels so geographically spread out.

Planning Your Body of Lies Trip in Morocco

The Moroccan locations form a simple route. Start in Casablanca, add Rabat, then travel south to the Marrakech–Ouarzazate region for the desert sets.

A private driver makes the long desert leg comfortable, while a local guide can explain what each street and studio stood in for. Film databases, encyclopedic entries and production interviews all point to the same three hubs.

What to expect:

• Two to three days to cover Casablanca and Rabat comfortably.
• A full day of driving from Rabat to the Ouarzazate region.
• Studios and desert are best visited with a guided tour.
• Casablanca’s airport is the easiest arrival point for this route.

For a smooth introduction, our Morocco Itinerary 8 Days from Casablanca to Imperial Cities links the two filming cities with the imperial heartland. If you want the desert sets too, the 10 Day Morocco Tour from Rabat to Marrakech adds the south and the Sahara. Film fans may also enjoy our guide to the Captain Phillips filming locations in Morocco.

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