Bourges, Compiègne and Senlis became Paris: Here's where The Hunchback, Soul of Paris was filmed

Filming took place at the Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Bourges – one of the great Gothic cathedrals of France, its vast nave and extraordinary stained glass windows giving it a visual authority that very few church interiors in the country can match. Production began on a Monday and ran through Friday, with the cathedral completely closed to the public for the duration.

Dozens of production trucks surrounded the building. Guards stood at every door. Tourists were turned away. Spotlights at the end of cranes flooded the stained glass from the outside, creating the particular quality of illuminated medieval glass that no interior lighting could replicate. The secrecy around Cassel's transformation into Quasimodo was, by all accounts, of the utmost importance – photographs from Dolet Square were actively prohibited. Curious onlookers who maintained a vigil around the cathedral could occasionally glimpse Cassel inside, but the production's control of the perimeter was strict.

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The imperial city of Compiègne hosted the production for approximately ten days of exterior shooting, with the crew firmly established in the city after spending the previous weeks filming at the Grande Écuries du Roy – the former royal stables, now a national stud farm – for interior sequences in sets reconstructing the 1830s.

Exterior filming then moved to the cobblestones of Rue d'Ulm, along the castle, before the production departed for Senlis. Street closures were announced by the City of Compiègne across multiple days: October 20 from midnight, Rue du Dahomey and Rue Henri de Seroux; October 21 from 5am to 4pm; October 22 from 4pm to 6am on Rue d'Ulm, in front of 3 Rue Othenin and Rue du Jeu de Paume; and October 23 from 1pm to 5am, with the Rue de la Procession parking lot neutralised. A large blue canvas and mess furniture were visible to passersby in the heart of the city. 

Residents noticed trucks stationed in front of the imperial palace and individuals wandering in period attire – the specific markers of a French period production claiming a city for its own.

After Compiègne, the production moved to Senlis – the ancient walled city in the Oise, its medieval streets, its Gothic cathedral and its remarkably intact historic centre giving the production another convincing approximation of 1830s Paris. 

The crew spent also time filming in Laon – with people gathered in Place Aubry for the shoot. As a local observer noted with precise economy: "A day of filming in Laon represents one minute of the finished film."

The Hunchback, Soul of Paris premieres on Netflix on November 27, 2026.