Michael Weatherly explains why NCIS: Tony & Ziva is filmed in Budapest

We all know that Budapest, Hungary doesn’t look anything like Paris, France. Yet, it’s the filming location chosen for NCIS: Tony & Ziva despite the two characters living in Paris.

Many viewers may be confused about why the show would opt to film in a completely different country. It’s not like it isn’t possible to film in France. Plenty of movies and shows film there.

Michael Weatherly explained all to Variety. There’s actually one very good reason filming can’t happen in Paris this summer.

It’s all about the Summer Olympics

The Summer Olympics will take place in Paris in 2024. This is around the time that NCIS: Tony & Ziva is set to film. So, it makes sense that filming can’t happen here. Either the show would need to wait, or filming would need to take place elsewhere. Trying to film around the Olympics is going to be difficult, and that is more important.

So, it led to the decision to film elsewhere. Budapest, Hungary was the chosen spot. In a way, that’s not surprising. Budapest is a popular location for filming in Europe. It’s the main location for FBI: International.

This will likely mean that filming stays there should the spin-off land a second season. It would be too expensive to change locations to Paris, unless there are tax breaks to do that.

NCIS: Tony & Ziva will travel around Europe

It’s likely that Budapest isn’t the only filming location. This is a show that will jump through countries. Weatherly went on to say that it would cover Europe, and there were a few international guest stars planned throughout the 10-episode season.

This makes sense considering the title the show was originally give: NCIS: Europe. The good news is that it didn’t keep that name. Weatherly did make it clear that there are a lot of international locations, but they are not being shared just yet. We just know to rule out Paris, France for now.

One thing Cote de Pablo made clear was that for her to do this show, it had to be outside of the United States. So, it looks like Europe is where it will stay.