Where Was The Hangover Part 3 Filmed? All Locations Explained

The Hangover Part 3 was the capstone in the Hangover franchise, and the locations were as integral to the final chapter as the story itself.

The Hangover Part III capped off the Hangover trilogy, and the locations were as important to finalizing the story as getting Alan, Stu, and Phil back together for one last adventure. After the events of Hangover Part II and the wild bachelor party in Bangkok, Alan has a mental health crisis, and his two best friends vow to help him through it even if it means taking him to a rehab facility personally. At the same time, they reunite with Leslie Chow who has escaped prison and is being hunted down by a crime boss looking for 42 million dollars in gold that mysteriously went missing after their first Las Vegas escapade.

As with all the Hangover movies that bounce around from place to place, Hangover Part III is a wild rollercoaster, though some locations double for others in clever ways. The spectacular environments the trio find themselves in are as much a part of the appeal of the movies as their outrageous antics. After spending so much time abroad in Hangover II, writer and director Todd Phillips decided to bring everything back to where it all started in a fitting ending to the Wolfpack’s shenanigans.

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Los Angeles, California

Principal photography began in Los Angeles, California, where sections of California State Route 73, an Orange County toll road were closed for the scene involving a multi-car pileup that occurs when Alan decapitates a giraffe he recently purchased. All it takes is going the wrong way under a particular low overpass in his Mercedes-Benz E350. This sort of erratic behavior proves concerning for his family and eventually drives his father Syd to have a heart attack.

The film has more in common with Phillips’ The Joker or The King of Comedy than its predecessors, but the sections filmed in LA conjure up the spirit of The Hangover’s initial zaniness. One of the most endearing aspects of these films is that they’re unpredictable, so seeing Alan drive down 73 hauling a giraffe seems par for the course. It’s after this section that the movie takes on the elements of a thriller, with Marshall and his crew dogging Chow’s every step.

Nogales, Arizona

After Alan’s father dies, and it’s revealed Alan hasn’t been taking his ADHD medication, Stu and Phil take Alan to a rehab facility in Arizona where he can get the help he needs. When the trio is taken hostage by Marshall, the crime boss Chow stole the 42 million from, Alan doesn’t get to address his issues. Phillips has been accused of Joker betraying mental illness sufferers, and it’s clear that Alan’s neurodivergence was being used for cheap laughs in 2013.

If the trio track Chow down for him, Marshall won’t kill Alan’s brother-in-law, which leads the three friends to Tijuana, Mexico, where Alan arranges a meeting with Chow to try to coerce him into coming back to the states. Given its arid climate and stretches of desert, Nogales, Arizona doubled as Tijuana easily. The border town had enough of the architecture and cultural flavor to replicate the film’s beautiful villa as well as downtown Tijuana.

Las Vegas, Nevada

The final portions of the film were shot in Las Vegas, Nevada, where the Wolfpack got its start. While the Mission: Impossible franchise might never come full circle with Cruise at the helm, Phillips’ wisely understands that it’s only fitting that Hangover Part III end where it began when an innocent bachelor party turned into an adventure. When they track Phil’s phone to a pawn shop in Vegas, the owner tells them about Chow’s imprisonment in a suite in Caesars Palace.

As is the case with the Wolfpack and Chow, nothing goes according to plan once Marshall and his crew get involved. Chow miraculously cheats death, Alan decides to date the pawn shop owner, and the Wolfpack breaks up. The allure of Las Vegas and its infinite possibilities is a thrall that hangs over the characters as it hangs over the franchise, however, and The Hangover Part III ends with the seeds for a revival planted.

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