Houston Film and TV Locations: 10 Places You Can Visit

Houston has been doubling as itself — and everywhere else — on screen since 1980. Ten of those filming locations are still open to the public today, from the actual Mission Control room that managed the Apollo 13 crisis to the downtown park that gave Reality Bites its most recognizable scene.

The quick list

• Most iconic stop: Space Center Houston — the real Apollo 13 Mission Control, open on the tram tour
• Best meal: Brennan's of Houston, where Jack Nicholson slurped raw oysters in Terms of Endearment
• Wes Anderson fans: Church of St. John the Divine and Hotel ZaZa, both from Rushmore (1998)
• Boyhood triple: HMNS Butterfly Center, Miller Outdoor Theatre, and Daikin Park — all three from Richard Linklater's 12-year film
• Free downtown walk: Tranquility Park (Reality Bites) plus Pennzoil Place (The Tree of Life), combined into one afternoon

How we chose

Each location on this list is currently open and accessible to the public — visitor attractions, active businesses, or public spaces you can walk into today. Film and television credits were confirmed from production documentation, official film histories, or each venue's own published record. We left out private homes (the Locke Lane houses from Terms of Endearment are still standing but are private residences), school campuses not open to visitors (St. John's School from Rushmore, though the adjacent church is open), and venues that have since closed — Gilley's Club, the Pasadena honky-tonk that made Urban Cowboy (1980), burned down in 1990.

Space Center Houston

Clear Lake, 1601 NASA Parkway

Apollo 13 (1995) and Armageddon (1998) both used the NASA Johnson Space Center complex in Clear Lake. The Historic Mission Control — the actual room where flight controllers worked the 1970 emergency — is preserved here and opened as part of a tram tour add-on. The National Park Service designated it a National Historic Landmark in 1985, and Space Center Houston's tour guides narrate the Apollo 13 crisis inside the room where it actually unfolded.

For Armageddon, the production used the Neutral Buoyancy Lab: NASA's six-million-gallon training pool — one of the largest indoor pools on earth — where astronauts practice spacewalks. It is visible from the tram route.

What to do: Book the Historic Mission Control tram add-on when you purchase general admission. It sells out on weekends, so reserve it in advance. Allow at least three hours for the full visit. Our Space Center Houston visitor guide covers parking, on-site dining, and what to skip.

Hotel ZaZa Museum District

Museum District, 5701 Main Street

Wes Anderson grew up in Houston and set Rushmore (1998) — his second feature — across the city's actual locations. Bill Murray's character Herman Blume, kicked out by his wife, moves into the Warwick Hotel. The bees-in-the-room breakdown was filmed here. The building is now Hotel ZaZa, redesigned as a boutique hotel, but the 1920s exterior is unchanged from the film.

What to do: The bar is open to non-guests. The Museum District is walkable from the hotel; the Menil Collection and the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston are both within a five-minute walk.

Church of St. John the Divine

River Oaks, 2450 River Oaks Blvd

Anderson attended St. John's School as a student and used it as Rushmore Academy in the film. The chapel service scene was filmed at the Church of St. John the Divine, an active Episcopal parish that shares the property line with the school. The school campus is private and not open to visitors, but the church holds regular public Sunday services.

The detail worth knowing: This is one of the few places in Houston where you can sit in the exact room Anderson filmed as a young director working from memory. The church's website lists service times at sjd.org.

What to do: Attend a Sunday service or walk River Oaks Blvd to see the chapel exterior and the school entrance gate from the street.

Brennan's of Houston

Midtown, 3300 Smith Street

Terms of Endearment (1983, James L. Brooks) won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and filmed the lunch scene between Aurora Greenway (Shirley MacLaine) and Garrett Breedlove (Jack Nicholson) at this Creole restaurant in Midtown. Brennan's has published its film history on its own website. The restaurant rebuilt after a fire in 2008, but the Brennan's name and Creole menu continue at the same address.

What to do: Book lunch or dinner. The menu runs from turtle soup and Gulf fish to a weekend jazz brunch. Staff know the film history — ask when you sit down.

Tranquility Park

Downtown Houston, 400 Rusk Street

Reality Bites (1994, Ben Stiller) was set and filmed entirely in Houston, and the most recognizable surviving public location is Tranquility Park. Ethan Hawke's Troy takes Winona Ryder's Lelaina here in a key scene, walking among the cylindrical fountain elements while the characters argue about their futures. The Montrose apartment building where the characters lived (409 W. Clay St.) was demolished in 2024.

The fact that earns its own stop: The park takes its name from the Sea of Tranquility, where Apollo 11 landed on July 20, 1969. The cylindrical fountain elements are designed to resemble rocket boosters. The park opened on July 20, 1979 — the 10th anniversary of the landing. In a guide about Houston on screen, the detail that a park built to honor the Moon landing became the backdrop for a story about aimless Gen X Houstonians feeling stuck is exactly the kind of irony the city runs on.

What to do: Free and always open. Tranquility Park is a short walk from the Houston Theater District and the entrance to the downtown tunnel system.

Houston Museum of Natural Science — Cockrell Butterfly Center

Museum District, 5555 Hermann Park Drive

Richard Linklater filmed Boyhood (2014) — a story assembled across 12 years of actual production — at several Houston locations during the early sequences. The Cockrell Butterfly Center, a three-story glass rainforest with more than 1,500 live butterflies, is one of the clearly identifiable scenes where Mason Sr. (Ethan Hawke) takes his children for a day out.

What to do: The Butterfly Center is an add-on ticket beyond the main museum admission. Combine it with the Miller Outdoor Theatre stop below for a Boyhood double-header inside Hermann Park. Our HMNS visitor guide has current ticket prices and the free-Tuesday schedule.

Miller Outdoor Theatre, Hermann Park

Museum District, 6000 Hermann Park Drive

Also from Boyhood: the grassy hill at Miller Outdoor Theatre, where Mason Sr. throws a football with his kids on one of their father-son days. The hill is the lawn seating area for Houston's free outdoor performing-arts venue, which runs performances spring through fall.

What to do: Walk Hermann Park from the HMNS entrance — the Miller Theatre hill is about 10 minutes on foot. The hill is always open and free. Check the performance calendar at milleroutdoortheatre.com if you want to catch a show.

Daikin Park

Downtown/EaDo, 501 Crawford Street

Boyhood's baseball scene was filmed during a real Astros game at what was then Minute Maid Park, now Daikin Park. Linklater cast it as a routine family afternoon, and outfielder Jason Lane hit a home run almost on cue toward the camera during filming. The production used real crowd footage from the game.

What to do: Catch an Astros game or take a ballpark tour. The 2-hour Ultimate Fan tour includes the field and dugout on non-game weekdays — the closest you can get to the exact ground where the scene was filmed.

Pennzoil Place

Downtown Houston, 711 Louisiana Street

Terrence Malick filmed the present-day sequences of The Tree of Life (2011) across downtown Houston's office district, the city where Malick grew up. Sean Penn's scenes were shot primarily at Pennzoil Place — Philip Johnson's 1970s twin-tower building with its distinctive angled bronze-glass tops — and in several other Loop-area lobbies including Wells Fargo Plaza.

What to do: The exterior and lobby plaza of Pennzoil Place are publicly accessible from Louisiana Street. Combine this with Tranquility Park for a single downtown afternoon that covers both Reality Bites and The Tree of Life. Our guide to things to do downtown has the full neighborhood picture.

Rice University Campus

Rice Village area, 6100 Main Street

Terms of Endearment reportedly filmed campus scenes at Rice University; the Sallyport and main quad are referenced in Houston film histories. Rice is one of the few genuinely beautiful university campuses in Texas, with a coherent Spanish-Byzantine architecture that photographs well whether or not you have the film in mind. The admissions office offers self-guided tour maps.

What to do: Walk the campus on your own or arrange a guided tour through the Rice admissions office at rice.edu. Combine with the Museum District — Rice is about a mile from HMNS and Hotel ZaZa.

Save this: the Houston film locations route

Never drive between locations if you are planning to eat and drink. Use rideshare or plan the downtown walk on foot.

Two-hour downtown walk (no car needed)

1. Start at Tranquility Park (Reality Bites) — free, 20 minutes
2. Walk six blocks west to Pennzoil Place (The Tree of Life) — exterior only, 10 minutes
3. Optional: coffee near the Houston Theater District before heading out

Half-day Museum District loop

1. HMNS Butterfly Center (Boyhood) — 90 minutes including the museum
2. Walk 10 minutes to Miller Outdoor Theatre hill (Boyhood) — 15 minutes
3. Drive or Uber to Hotel ZaZa bar (Rushmore) — 10 minutes from HMNS
4. Optional: add Rice University campus walk (Terms of Endearment) — 10-minute drive south

Day trip: Space Center Houston Drive 25 miles south on I-45 to Space Center Houston (Apollo 13, Armageddon). Pre-book the Historic Mission Control tram add-on. Allow 3–4 hours. Our NASA Johnson Space Center guide has driving directions and what to expect.

Before you go

• Space Center Houston's Mission Control tram add-on books out on weekends — reserve it when you buy your ticket.
• Hotel ZaZa bar is open to non-guests, no reservation needed.
• Brennan's is closed Sunday evenings; their jazz brunch runs Saturday and Sunday.
• Tranquility Park and Pennzoil Place exterior are free, no advance planning required.
• The Church of St. John the Divine holds Sunday services; check sjd.org for times before you go.

Last verified: October 2026.

Frequently asked questions

What movies were filmed in Houston, Texas?

Several notable films used Houston locations: Reality Bites (1994), Rushmore (1998), Terms of Endearment (1983), Boyhood (2014), The Tree of Life (2011), and Urban Cowboy (1980). NASA's Johnson Space Center in Clear Lake was used for Armageddon (1998) and served as the real setting narrated in Apollo 13 (1995).

Can you tour the real Apollo 13 Mission Control in Houston?

Yes. The Historic Mission Control at NASA's Johnson Space Center is preserved as a National Historic Landmark and is part of the Space Center Houston tram tour, available as a paid add-on to general admission. It is the actual room where flight controllers managed the 1970 Apollo 13 emergency.

Did Wes Anderson grow up in Houston?

Yes. Anderson was born and raised in Houston and attended St. John's School. He used the city as the setting for Rushmore (1998), filming at his own school, the adjacent Church of St. John the Divine on River Oaks Blvd, and the Warwick Hotel (now Hotel ZaZa Museum District).

Where was Reality Bites filmed in Houston?

Reality Bites (1994) was set and filmed entirely in Houston. The most accessible surviving public location is Tranquility Park downtown, where key scenes with Ethan Hawke and Winona Ryder were filmed among the cylindrical Wortham Fountain elements. The characters' Montrose apartment building was demolished in 2024.

Where was Boyhood filmed in Houston?

Richard Linklater filmed Boyhood's Houston sequences at the Cockrell Butterfly Center inside the Houston Museum of Natural Science, on the grassy hill at Miller Outdoor Theatre in Hermann Park, and at what is now Daikin Park (then Minute Maid Park) during a real Astros game.

Was The Tree of Life filmed in Houston?

Yes. Terrence Malick filmed the present-day sequences featuring Sean Penn at several downtown Houston buildings, most prominently Pennzoil Place at 711 Louisiana Street — the 1976 Philip Johnson twin-tower building with angled bronze-glass tops — and adjacent Loop-area office lobbies.