Surprise! Where the Movie ‘Arkansas’ Was Filmed

Have you seen the Netflix movie, Arkansas?

The crime-thriller based on a novel written by John Brandon has pretty much an all-star cast of Vince Vaughn, Liam Hemsworth, John Malkovich,  Michael Kenneth, Eden Brolin, Vivica A. Fox, and native Arkansan Clark Duke and his brother Chandler Duke.

Maybe they should have named the movie, Alabama since most of the scenes were filmed there.  Good news! At least three scenes were shot in Arkansas, the historic Arlington Resort Hotel and Spa, Maxine's, and the Fordyce Bath House on Bathhouse Row in downtown Hot Springs National Park. I also heard that they may have shot a few scenes in Little Rock.

Clark Duke who hails from Glenwood, Arkansas not only starred in the movie but this movie was his directorial debut.

According to the Hot Springs Sentinel, Duke, and Hemsworth are playing members of the real-life Dixie Mafia. They are drug runners and Vince Vaughn plays the Drug Kingpin of the organization. A short synopsis of the movie has the boys Duke (Swin) and Hemsworth (Kyle) being relocated to an Arkansas State Park where a ranger (Bright) played by John Malkovich puts them to work. However, the park is just a front for drug running all over the South, the boys then learn they have a mysterious boss they never see named, Frog. The story takes off from there but I don't want to give away the plot of the movie.

In 2018 when the filming took place Liam was seen all around town visiting some hot spots including a Kroger where he met an unsuspecting fan. He was also very popular with the girls as they would gather around where he was filming just to get a glimpse of the star up close. Get the whole story here.

The 2020 movie is now available to watch on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video. Reviews of this movie have been mixed from good to bad.