by InTrieste
It starts with a bang. A fire truck barrels through Porto Vecchio, colliding with a boat on a trailer before flipping dramatically into a fireball. The British prime minister—played by Idris Elba—leaps from the burning vehicle and dives into a waiting black limousine. At the wheel, from the back seat, is none other than the president of the United States, portrayed by John Cena.
This is not a geopolitical fever dream, but one of the adrenaline-fueled sequences from Heads of State, the latest action-comedy from director Ilya Naishuller (Nobody), set to premiere on Amazon Prime Video on July 2. The film’s first trailer ends with a flurry of scenes shot last summer on location in Trieste, including an explosive confrontation on the city’s Canal Grande and a reverse-speed limo escape down the narrow Via Ciamiciam.
Set against the backdrop of real Triestine landmarks—from the industrial Porto Vecchio to the stately Piazza Hortis—the film pairs Elba and Cena as rival heads of state forced to cooperate when a shared enemy downs Air Force One. With the help of a brilliant MI6 agent, played by Priyanka Chopra Jonas, they must work together to foil a plot that threatens the free world.
While the fictional world descends into chaos, filming in Trieste brought a more mundane kind of disruption. Streets were periodically closed, faux gunfire echoed through the city center, and curious tourists mingled with frustrated locals as filming rolled on through the summer of 2023. “Tourists were fascinated, residents less so,” one local shop owner remarked during a particularly loud day near Piazza Hortis.
According to local officials, the production left a tangible mark on the city’s economy, injecting over 8 million euros in direct spending and compensation, not including the wider economic impact on local businesses and tourism. Additional scenes featuring the film’s stars are expected to be shot in the city later this year.
In a departure from Hollywood’s frequent practice of using European cities as stand-ins for other locations, Trieste appears as itself in Heads of State—a rare and visible starring role for this historic port city on the Adriatic Sea. The film’s presence in Trieste is seen by many as a signal of the city’s growing appeal to international filmmakers.
For now, Trieste’s cobblestones and historic palazzi are quiet again—but at least on screen, they’ll soon be exploding into action.
