Last modified 2022-02-15T16:36:Z “The Breakfast Club” stars Judd Nelson, Emilio Estevez, Ally Sheedy, Molly Ringwald, and Anthony Michael Hall. Universal Pictures The 1980s drama “The Breakfast Club” is a classic, but even diehard fans may have missed these details.
What high school was used to film The Breakfast Club?
Filming – Hughes stated in 1999 that his request to direct the film was met with resistance and skepticism due to his lack of experience in filmmaking. Hughes ultimately persuaded the film’s investors that he could significantly reduce their risk due to the film’s modest $1 million budget and single-location shoot.
- Hughes initially envisioned The Breakfast Club as his directorial debut.
- Hughes chose an enclosed, predominantly one-room set and wrote about high school students, who would be portrayed by younger actors.
- Production began on March 28, 1984, and concluded in May.
- Maine North High School in Des Plaines, Illinois, which had been closed since May 1981, was used for filming.
The interior scenes of the 1986 film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off were filmed in the same location as exterior shots from nearby Glenbrook North High School. The library at Maine North High School was deemed too small for the film, so the crew constructed a nearly identical but larger set in the gym.
- After three weeks of rehearsal, the actors shot the film in sequence.
- Hughes revealed on the Ferris Bueller’s Day Off DVD commentary (featured on the 2004 DVD version) that he shot the two films simultaneously to save time and money, and some outtakes from both films feature members of the crews working on the other film.
The length of the first print was 150 minutes. During a cast reunion to celebrate the film’s 25th anniversary, Ally Sheedy revealed the existence of a Director’s Cut, but Hughes’s widow did not disclose its location. The first draft of the film’s script was discovered in a Maine South High School cabinet in 2015, when district employees were relocating their offices.
Was the setting of The Breakfast Club Chicago?
Chicago, Illinois filming locations for The Breakfast Club (1985). The five main characters pass an afternoon of detention in this archetypal teen film. This being the case, the setting must be the fictitious suburb of ‘Shermer’ The majority of the film takes place in the library of ‘Shermer High School,’ which was constructed in the gymnasium of what was then Maine North High School, located at 9511 Harrison Street in Des Plaines, Illinois, approximately 20 miles away.
- It had closed in 1981 and was vacant during filming.
- This structure currently serves as the district headquarters for the Illinois State Police and other offices.
- The exterior of the school was modeled after the Maine North entrance on Harrison Street, where Breakfasters are dropped off by their parents.
Some of the hallways and corridors are from’s own school, Glenbrook North High School, located at 2300 Shermer Road in northern Northbrook. This is, of course, the school that Ferris () attended. Shermer Road recalls the original name of Northbrook, which was Shermerville, the fictional suburb’s inspiration: Chicago, Illinois filming locations for The Breakfast Club (1985).
