Famous Movies Filmed in Yakima, Like Cement Suitcase & All Sorts

There were a few movies filmed in Yakima back when my parents were either not born yet or were still in elementary school, so I'm not going to count them in my list of the top 3 most famous movies filmed in the Yakima Valley. **

Celebrities from Upper Yakima Valley: Some Pretty Famous Heavy Hitters

A lot of famous people have hailed from Yakima, like Janet Marie Waldo (the voice of Judy Jetson), Grammy-winner Oleta Adams, NFL Superbowl champ Cooper Kupp, and some of MasterChef's newest stars, namely Chefs Shawn and Asher Niles.

Yakima Valley has produced quite a few famous cinematic Hollywood movers and shakers, too, like Colleen Atwood (four-time Oscar winner for her amazing costumes including Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice and the Fantastic Beasts movies, and the Netflix show, Wednesday), and someone who starred in the cult movie classic film, Dune--a Yakima-born guy you may have heard of named Kyle MacLachlan!

Enter This Famous Heavy Hitter from the Lower Valley, Stage Right: Director/Producer Rick Castañeda

Rick Castañeda and John Riggs talk about the film, Cement Staircase. Screenshot KFFM YouTube/Canva

Through my colleagues, I have been lucky enough to meet the man who has filmed two of the three most famous movies filmed in Yakima. His name is J. Rick Castañeda, and he is from Sunnyside, Washington! Lower Valley, represent!

Rick brought us the magic of the films including his breakthrough movie, Cement Staircase (famous movie #1), and All Sorts (movie #2). If you haven't seen either one of them, stop what you're doing right this second and watch them! They are both currently available for rent on Apple TV.

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Famous Movie Filmed in Yakima #3

The other famous movie filmed in the Yakima area (near Tieton and Cowiche) is In Dubious Battle, which was directed by James Franco and brought four major stars to Yakima. Locals who got picked to be movie extras reported meeting Bryan Cranston, Nat Wolff, Josh Hutcherson, and Vincent D'Onofrio.

In Dubious Battle is a remake of the Steinbeck book of the same name and included other A-listers like Ed Harris, Sam Sheppard, Selena Gomez, and Danny McBride. The film can be seen on Google Play, YouTube, and Apple TV.

**I want to know about the modern stuff, no shade to our beloved Elder Boomers.

Watch the movie trailer for Cement Suitcase and see if you can pick out all the Yakima and Tieton filmed scenes!

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Gallery Credit: Pete Christensen