Moray’s fishing towns and windswept coastline have spent the best part of a year playing host to one of the biggest film productions in cinema history, and as Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey opened in cinemas last Friday, the reaction from residents and the local tourism industry suggests the region’s turn in the Hollywood spotlight could pay dividends for years to come.
From secrecy to superstardom
Rumours of a major shoot in the area first surfaced in the summer of 2025, when the Press & Journal reported that “a massive Hollywood spectacular could be about to descend on the Moray coast,” with locations around Buckie and Cullen, including the ruined Findlater Castle, expected to feature in the blockbuster.
Wooden Greek warships and the Draken Harald Hårfagre – billed as the largest Viking-style ship built in modern times – moored in Buckie Harbour, while temporary structures went up around Findlater Castle, forcing Visit Aberdeenshire to close the site and its car park to the public between 27 May and 25 July “as a result of a private commercial activity ongoing in the immediate vicinity” .
Warm welcome for the cast
As filming intensified through the summer, the local press tracked a steady stream of star sightings across Moray, from Cullen and Buckie to Elgin and Burghead, as Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Zendaya and director Sir Christopher Nolan himself became familiar faces in local shops, restaurants and even a go-kart track.
Damon, who plays Odysseus, appeared to relish his time on the Moray coast. Speaking to a Press & Journal reporter on the street in Cullen, he described the area simply: “Yeah – it’s wonderful”., while aworker at Cullen Ice Cream Shop, where Damon had become a regular, told the paper: “Folk in Cullen have been letting him get on. He’s a lovely lovely person, got time for everybody but everyone has given him time,” adding, “He’s a real credit. He’s been in to every shop I think” .
Even Sir Christopher Nolan won over Moray locals during a quieter moment away from set, when he slipped into the Moray Playhouse in Elgin to watch F1 The Movi, and reportedly told staff Elgin was “a lovely wee place”.
A tourism opportunity years in the making
Council leaders had already been laying the groundwork to capitalise on screen tourism before The Odyssey arrived. In 2023, Moray Council relaxed rules on filming at council-owned buildings and structures specifically to attract more productions, after officials noted that Scottish screen tourism was already generating tens of millions of pounds a year for the wider economy.
Committee chair Councillor Marc Macrae said at the time: “Demand for filming on location, which makes use of sites around Moray, has increased, with a series of productions filmed on location in recent months. Many of us caught a glimpse of Covesea lighthouse in the last series of The Crown. The film and TV production sector supports jobs and livelihoods, including freelance crew and services that are integral to production such as hospitality and accommodation. It plays a major part in promoting the Moray region for economic and social development and attracting tourism and we should be doing what we can to boost this”.
That strategy now faces its biggest test yet. Moray Speyside’s tourism sector was already on an upward trajectory before Nolan’s cameras arrived, with visitor numbers reaching a record 877,000 in 2023 and contributing £187 million to the local economy – a 25% jump on the previous year, according to the Scottish Tourism Alliance.
Visit Moray Speyside chief executive Gemma Cruickshank has set out ambitions to push that figure to £200 million and a million annual visitors by 2027, telling the Scottish Tourism Alliance: “We’ve got amazing businesses here in Moray, and there’s so much opportunity both for them, and the broader region. I think it’s really important that we have a thriving area with an even stronger business ecosystem”.
The Odyssey’s presence on the Moray coast lines up neatly with that ambition. Local tourism guides have already begun directing film fans towards the region’s contribution to the movie, highlighting Findlater Castle, Culbin Forest, Buckie Harbour, Burghead and Sunnyside Beach near Cullen as key locations used by Nolan’s production team. Comparisons are already being drawn with the “Outlander effect,” which drove a wave of overseas visitors to Scottish filming locations in the years after that television series first aired
With the film now playing in cinemas worldwide following its 17 July release, the sweeping shots of the Moray Firth coastline captured on IMAX cameras are set to reach audiences of a scale rarely afforded to the region.
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What it could mean for Moray
For an area whose tourism economy already leans heavily on whisky trails, dramatic coastline and outdoor pursuits, the prospect of a Nolan blockbuster shining a spotlight on Findlater Castle, Culbin Forest and the fishing towns of Buckie and Cullen represents a rare marketing opportunity that money alone could not easily buy.
Visit Moray Speyside’s own data shows a visitor economy already growing steadily even before the film’s release, and VisitScotland Regional Director David Jackson has emphasised the wider economic ripple effect that a stronger visitor economy brings to communities across the north-east, describing tourism and events as “among Moray Speyside’s most valuable industries” whose success “creates a ripple effect which powers a vibrant visitor economy”.
Whether the “Odyssey effect” translates into a lasting surge of overseas visitors seeking out Findlater’s clifftop ruins or the dunes of Culbin Forest remains to be seen. But for the shopkeepers, restaurateurs and cinema staff of Buckie, Cullen and Elgin who spent the summer of 2025 rubbing shoulders with some of Hollywood’s biggest names, the sense on the ground – if the warmth of the Press & Journal’s reporting is any guide – is one of pride, goodwill, and cautious optimism that Moray’s moment on the world stage is only just beginning.
