20 Things You Somehow Missed In The Prestige
6. No London
Even in its settings, The Prestige succeeds in deceiving its audience.
The primary location for the film is meant to be Victorian London, with Colorado making a prominent appearance.
However, Nolan's long-time production designer, Nathan Crowley transformed a section of the Universal Studios backlot in Los Angeles into a late 19th Century London, whilst the Los Angeles Theatre, the Palace Theatre, the Los Angeles Belasco, and the Tower Theatre stood in for London theatres of the era for the magicians' various performances. Even the cemetery where Julia is buried is the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on Santa Monica Boulevard.
Meanwhile, the sprawling estate of Lord Caldlow (Hugh Jackman) was Greystone Park and Mansion, a Tudor revival manor house in Beverly Hills, which has been used as a location in numerous films and television series, from Columbo (1972) and National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007) to Batman & Robin (1997) and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man Trilogy (2002-2007).
In fact, Nolan only had one soundstage set purpose-built for the film: an under-stage area to house the workings behind the various magic tricks.