Vancouver Island castle named top movie tourism destination

B.C. actor Ryan Renyolds catapulted the aging castle into the viral online stratosphere when he posted a tweet of himself in the Deadpool costume outside the building. (Twitter)

Hatley Castle is no stranger to the bright lights and big stars of Hollywood, but now the home of the X-Men is being enshrined as one of the world’s top movie tourism destinations.

The tourism website The Travel has named the Colwood castle one of the Top 10 film locations worth travelling to.

The brick-walled castle, which is maintained by Royal Roads University, has played roles in dozens of films.

“We have a long history of filming at the university, since 1933 actually,” Rebecca Pregelj with Royal Roads told CTV News.

“Over 45 feature films have been shot here, but the big ones that are popular with visitors are X-Men, Deadpool and Disney’s Descendants.”

B.C. actor Ryan Renyolds catapulted the aging castle into the viral online stratosphere when he posted a tweet of himself in the Deadpool costume outside the building.

Royal Roads staff say while they do promote the castle as a tourist destination on southern Vancouver Island, they do not actively market it as a film destination.

Still, staff say hundreds flock to the mansion every year with hopes of spotting a star, or living vicariously through their Hollywood memories.

Other entries in the Top 10 list are the Ghostbusters headquarters in New York City and the hobbit village from the Lord of the Rings in New Zealand.

The Vancouver Island castle is the only Canadian location on the list.