Netflix’s 2025 thriller iHostage uses a full-scale Apple Store replica, a stretch of Leidseplein sidewalk and a large LED environment to recreate the setting of the 2022 Amsterdam hostage crisis. The production built the set in an old airplane hangar in Katwijk because, director Bobby Boermans says, no studio in the Netherlands was large enough.
Why the production built a replica
Filming inside the actual Apple Store was not possible. Boermans told Netflix’s behind-the-scenes featurette that the team therefore reconstructed the store at its real retail scale, including the same floor area. A purpose-built interior gave the production a controlled space for filming while allowing the crew to recreate the location as the story required.
The replica was not just a shop interior. Boermans says the set included the entire store, seven meters of sidewalk outside it, and the surrounding screens on the square. The project moved to an old airplane hangar in Katwijk, South Holland, because no Dutch studio could accommodate the build.
How the physical set and digital square worked together
A full-scale store with reused materials
Production partner ReadySet Studios says much of the full-scale set was made using repurposed and previously used elements. Its production account describes a 60-by-6-meter LED wall surrounding the store replica. The Netflix featurette confirms the recreated store, sidewalk and screens; the specific LED-wall dimensions come from ReadySet Studios’ production breakdown.
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A scanned Leidseplein beyond the windows
Rather than relying on a live exterior at the Amsterdam square, the team displayed a scanned and digitally rebuilt Leidseplein on the LED wall. ReadySet Studios says the environment ran in real time outside the full-scale store, allowing the physical interior and digital surroundings to be used together on set. The studio’s virtual-production account gives the wall dimensions as 60 by 6 meters; a separate ReadySet post describes it as a 60-meter LED wall.
That combination joined a tangible, accurately scaled shop floor with a controllable exterior. The cited production accounts establish how this film used the setup, but do not show that LED virtual production is always cheaper, faster or preferable to filming on location.
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Who built the recreation
ReadySet Studios says production designer and co-founder Florian Legters designed the store set, and that ReadySet led the virtual-production work. Its breakdown credits Planet X with visual effects and real-time environments made in Unreal Engine. The studio also acknowledges Horizon Film, Netflix Netherlands and director Bobby Boermans as collaborators.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the recreation says about iHostage
iHostage is a thriller inspired by the 2022 Amsterdam hostage crisis, not a documentary account of it. Netflix’s film page describes that inspiration; the production details explain how the filmmakers recreated the setting rather than documenting events in the actual store.
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