Where Was ‘A Man Called Otto’ Filmed? Top Filming Locations For the Tom Hanks Movie

A Man Called Otto, which was released on digital platforms like Amazon Prime this week, asks a very important question: What if Tom Hanks was mean?

The notoriously kindly Hanks plays against type as “the grumpiest man in the world” in this 2022 dark comedy, which was adapted from the 2012 Swedish novel A Man Called Ove (which also adapted as a Swedish film in 2015). Directed by Marc Forster, with a screenplay by David Magee, Hanks stars as a 63-year-old widower named Otto who hates pretty much everyone besides his pet cat. But it’s more than just being grumpy—Otto is severely depressed, and at the begin of the movie, attempts to take his own life.

Though the original story took place in Sweden, this American adaptation relocates the main character to suburban Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and gives Otto a working-class background as a retired steel factory worker. Rather than recreate the city inside a studio, A Man Called Otto opted to film on location in Pennsylvania city. Read on to learn more about the Man Called Otto filming locations in Pittsburgh.

Where was A Man Called Otto filmed?

A Man Called Otto was primarily filmed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in February 2022. Specific Pittsburgh locations in A Man Called Otto include the Busy Beaver of Lawrenceville for the opening scene, Stangl’s Bakery in Ambridge, St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Oakmont, a steel reinforcing factory known as Simpson Reinforcing, Sewickley Cemetery, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Merchant Street in Ambridge, Monroeville Senior Citizens Center, North Park and Max’s Allegheny Tavern.

In an interview with the Pittsburgh Union Progress, which is published by striking workers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, director Marc Forster (World War Z, Christopher Robin) said he opted to shoot the movie in Pittsburgh after other filmmaker friends recommended the city for its film, arts, and food scene. “I loved it,” he said in the interview. “I would come back any day again. I thought the crew was terrific, the people were amazing. I loved the food. The whole experience was amazing.”

This is not the first film that’s brought Tom Hanks to Pittsburgh. He also visited Western Pennsylvania for the Pittsburgh shoot of his 2019 Mr. Rogers biopic, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. That man just can’t stay away from the Yinzer!