What Casino Was Las Vegas Filmed In?

Casino was a 1995 American epic crime film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Sharon Stone. The film is based on the nonfiction book Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas by Nicholas Pileggi, who also co-wrote the screenplay for the film with Scorsese.

The two had previously worked together on Goodfellas. In Casino, De Niro stars as Sam “Ace” Rothstein, a Jewish American top gambling handicapper who is called by the Italian Mob to oversee the operations at the Tangiers Casino in Las Vegas. His character is based on Frank Rosenthal, who ran the Stardust, Fremont, and Hacienda casinos in Las Vegas for the Chicago Outfit from the 1970s until the early 1980s. Pesci plays Nicholas “Nicky” Santoro, based on real-life Mob enforcer Anthony Spilotro.

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Nicky is sent to Vegas to make sure that money from the Tangiers is skimmed off the top and the mobsters in Vegas are kept in line. Sharon Stone plays Ginger McKenna, Ace’s wife and former hustler whose luck has run out.

The film details Sam’s operation of the casino, the difficulties he confronts in his job, Ginger’s relationships with both Sam and Nicky, and the gradual breakdown of their marriage. The casino itself is fictional; however, it is based loosely on both the Riviera and Stardust casinos which were taken over by Frank Rosenthal when he was working as an executive at them.

PRO TIP:When looking for a movie filmed in Las Vegas, look for the iconic ‘Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas’ sign! That’s a surefire way to identify which casino was used in the film as it’s almost always featured in the background.

Other aspects of the movie were based on real-life events including Rosenthal’s career, mob murders that took place in Kansas City and Chicago, and others.

Casino was released on November 22, 1995, to mostly positive critical reception; however, some people criticized its length at nearly three hours. Stone won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama for her performance as Ginger McKenna; she was also nominated for an Academy Award in the same category but lost out to Susan Sarandon for Dead Man Walking (1995).

The movie grossed over $116 million worldwide against its $52 million budget making it Scorsese’s highest-grossing movie at that point until he surpassed it with The Departed (2006), which grossed over $290 million worldwide against its $90 million budget.

In conclusion, Casino was filmed in Las Vegas at various locations including the Riviera and Stardust casinos. Some of the events depicted in the movie actually took place in real life including mob murders and Rosenthal’s career as a casino executive.