Film star Brad Pitt and a massive crew, including cranes and dozens of vans, have taken over part of Amsterdam city centre to shoot scenes for a new film.
A large section of the western canal ring was closed to traffic with fences and revamped to look like the 1980s, complete with Ford Escorts and squats covered with graffiti from the time on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“It looks very authentic,” said one man who knew the area well at the time. “They must have an old squatter as a consultant.”
On Tuesday, sightseers watched from behind the fences hoping to catch a glimpse of the Hollywood star on the Herengracht, while local residents filmed the goings-on from balconies and windows.
Several were lucky. “I think that’s him,” one young woman who had been filming through a gap in the screen told local broadcaster AT5.
Brad Pitt duikt in het Amsterdam van de jaren 80: ’Daar staat ie gewoon!’ pic.twitter.com/THNTiTh23N
— De Telegraaf (@telegraaf) March 24, 2026
By Wednesday the shoot had moved to the Blauwburgwal and surrounding streets, where huge black screens lined the waterways and signs warned locals that special effects could include mist and rain — hardly necessary given the weather.
Tourists heading for the Anne Frank House negotiated narrow walkways through film production vans. Others took pictures of the black screens as if it were all part of the Amsterdam experience.
A few fans hovered, watching the preparations, cameras at the ready.
Brad Pitt currently filming ‘Rider’ near my house. They’ve turned Brouwersgracht into a squat pic.twitter.com/9TqDCqEgGG
— AlexanderWensleydale (@AlexWensleydale) March 24, 2026
“No, I have not seen him,” said one security guard, brushing raindrops off his fluorescent jacket as he stopped people trying to go through a road-closure barrier. “I’m not allowed to move.”
Pitt last filmed in Amsterdam in 2004 when he, George Clooney and Matt Damon were in town for Ocean’s Twelve.
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