Despite popular belief, it is often not economical or efficient to film outside of Southern California. Whenever a film goes massively over budget, it often was filmed outside of Hollywood. Cleopatra, Heaven's Gate, Waterworld and Cutthroat Island were all films that went way over budget mainly because their distance from Hollywood executive suites created a situation in which filmmakers could spend wildly without repercussions. As a result, studios often establish strict guidelines for spending or require huge tax incentives before they consider filming outside their home base. As a result, they often have to find locations in Southern California that can look like other locales.
One might imagine that it would be easy to replicate a place like Miami in Southern California. They both have beaches and all, but Southern California has something missing from Florida- real mountains and hills. Where could they find a place where the pesky non-Floridian-like terrain of California won't invade the shot? Long Beach!
Long Beach has often been the city of choice when Hollywood wants to replicate Miami. Its distance from the more mountainous areas of Southern California provides the ability to shoot wide vistas without having to use CGI to remove hilly terrain or hope that movie audiences do not notice it.
The iconic Queensway bridge, which links the Queen Mary tourist area to downtown Long Beach, has been depicted as being in Miami in many a production.
The Queen Mary itself has often found itself filling in for Miami bound cruise ships. Crews can film to their heart's content without actually having to take a voyage.
Movie watchers would be surprised at how many iconic Miami sights they would actually find on the opposite coast- in Long Beach, California.
