More than 8,000 film fans visited a transformed Canary Wharf at the weekend as it resembled California for two interactive film screenings.

Wood Wharf looked more like a beachside town on Saturday and an air force academy on Sunday as Future Cinema put on its most ambitious event yet to show 80s classics The Lost Boys and Top Gun.

The company behind similarly lively Secret Cinema screenings in the past took over Canary Wharf and gave it a Californian make-over by using 79 tonnes of sand, 100 actors, over 20 sailing boats, 20 motorbikes and two helicopters.

The audience arrived across a pontoon bridge on Saturday, which had been redone as the Santa Carla Boardwalk and fans were recruited by the Lost Boys and Frog Brothers to combat vampires.

The “Mayor of Santa Carla” called on people to support a Missing Persons Day at Canada Square while Lost Boys on motorbikes revved their engines around visitors before the screening.

On Sunday, events took a military turn, as over 100 “naval officers” greeted new recruits to enrol them into a Top Gun programme with iconic moments from the film, such as the volleyball game, recreated.

The Canary Wharf version of Maverick, Tom Cruise’s character in the 1986 film, also led the audience in a sing-along of The Righteous Brothers’ You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling.

Fabien Riggall, Future Cinema’s founder and creative director, said: “We believe that our audience is looking for another kind of cinema.

“We will continue to push the boundaries of the film experience to bring it to them.”

Two lucky couples also won holidays to Los Angeles courtesy of Visit California and Air New Zealand.