Cutthroat Island

A good film can really highly publicized impact on the tourism industry of the site - and the news that Penelope Cruz arrived in Lanzarote to film for two weeks was greeted with enthusiasm by the Lanzarote holiday industry.

And their enthusiasm is well placed, because they saw another island vacation in Europe - Malta - will benefit from its sites on the big screen, and the Greek island of Cephalonia was made famous by the movie 2001 "Captain Corelli's Mandolin "- Penelope Cruz and was the leading actress of this film, starring Nicolas Cage co-star.

Troy, the 2004 blockbuster starring Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom, introduced the world to Malta. Most of Troy was filmed at Fort Ricasoli. The massive fort was built by the Knights of Malta somewhere between 1670 and 1693. Many people around the world would never have had the opportunity to see Fort Ricasoli if the producers had decided to use props in a studio.

A Different Loyalty, starring Sharon Stone was killed at Fort St. Elmo in Valletta, Malta in 2004. Fort St. Elmo is divided Marsamxett Harbor and the Grand Harbour and offers a grand entrance at both ports. Fort doubled for the city of Beirut in the film. Golden Sands Beach has also been chosen as the setting for parts of the film.

Alexander, starring Colin Farrell, Anthony Hopkins and Angelina Jolie and directed by Oliver Stone plans included Valletta's Grand Harbour. Grand Harbor is a natural port that has been used at least since Roman times. The port has doubled in the framework of the ancient port city of Alexandria in the film.

The 1995 movie pirates, Cutthroat Island with Geena Davis and Matthew Modine was filmed primarily in Vittoriosa. The Maritime Museum is often seen in the film. Mdina, Fort St. Elmo and the Dingli Cliffs are also settings for scenes in the film. The water tanks have been provided by Mediterranean Film Studio for use in scenes of sea

A night scene of Gladiator with Russell Crowe was filmed in Port Covers just outside Vittoriosa. The rest of the film was mostly shot on a replica of the Colosseum in Rome. The replica was built at Fort Ricasoli in Malta.

And Lanzarote might be replicated successfully in Malta because it is similar in some respects, but it has a different landscape.

Lanzarote, 37 miles long and 12 miles wide, has much to offer visitors of all ages. Thanks to the location of the island and volcanic eruptions as recent as the 19th century, people often describe parts of the island moon. Some say it gives them the feeling of being in another world - ideal for some movies!

Families with young children find this exciting way to teach their children about the planets and how each area of a planet may differ from others.

The pleasant climate throughout the year is conducive to a variety of sporting activities. Choose from golf, diving, riding, tennis and windsurfing. And time could, as the landscape, help influence policy makers that Lanzarote could be an ideal island for making movies.

Like to go to Lanzarote for the stars, Lanzarote is home to more than 100,000 people and has its own international airport.