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Croatia’s national tourist board figured out that nobody watches six more minutes of drone footage over turquoise water, so it hired John Malkovich instead. “Croatia – I Hear It’s Beautiful” casts him as a version of himself who gets talked into the trip by his agent and then spends the whole film refusing to admit he likes it. He has standing to play the part. Malkovich traced his family to the Ozalj area of Karlovac County and was granted Croatian citizenship in Zagreb back in May. Pete Radovich, a 45-time Emmy winner with Croatian roots of his own, handled the creative direction, and the route runs through Dubrovnik, Zagreb, Split, Hvar, Krka National Park, Istria and Slavonia without ever tipping into brochure mode. It premiered in Virginia around Croatia‘s World Cup opener, targeting an American market where arrivals now run more than 30 percent above 2019. A sequel with Luka Modrić at Zadar’s Sea Organ is already out. Both are on YouTube, but you can watch the full-length version below:
Joe Miragliotta
July 22, 2026