Find Filming locations for rent in Chicago, IL

Chicago has a beautiful skyline thanks to endless lists of towering buildings; after all, the Second City gets credit for inventing modern architecture. Chi-town gave us the first skyscraper, the Home Insurance building, and 330 North Wabash, the former IBM building, earned its stripes as a National Historic Place in 2010. Chi-town is also where the infamous American gangster John Dillinger went into hiding and ultimately met his demise in 1934.

The city is also where you'll find Upper and Lower Wacker Drive, a multilevel street running along the east and south sides of the Chicago River. Tourists have their pick of favorite attractions, including the Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago Union Station, and the entertainment spots around State St.

Chicago served as a filming location for several hit classics, including "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," "My Best Friend's Wedding," "Public Enemies," "Blues Brothers," and "The Dark Knight."

All these tidbits are the only pitch you'll need to film your family movie or Hollywood-budget big-screen production in the Windy City! Giggster has {{LOCATIONS_COUNT} filming sites in Chicago, making finding a university, soul food cafe, or even a museum for your project easier.

Giggster's Curated Filming Locations in Chicago

Chicago was one of the cities that inspired Gotham City, and the building at 330 N Wabash served as Wayne Enterprises. A suburban home at 671 Lincoln Ave., Winnetka, was the actual site for the McCallister home. Ferris Bueller ditched school and took us around Chi-town, showcasing Wrigley Field, The Chicago Art Institute, and Willis Tower, among other notable places. The varied city locations featured in films can inspire filmmaker to work on their next movie, and Giggster has thousands of listings to explore.

• Are you looking for a film space with art splashed on its walls? Find a creative space that checks all the boxes. Look for graffiti walls, a green room, prop walls, and maybe even a glow-in-the-dark hallway.

• A multi-set studio is the perfect venue for all still image and video projects. Seek out a loft-stye space with multiple sets, a fog machine, and plenty of versatile props.

• Do you need medical offices for your course training video? Book medical offices close to Union Station in the West Loop. Medical settings tick all the boxes and can host production teams working on films or commercials.

• Why not book a studio in downtown Chicago for your TV production or film shoot? Amenities like professional lights, switching gear, cameras, a control room, and a green room can make all the difference to an efficient shoot. Produce talk shows or Skype guests at a contemporary set, film a sitcom scene at an urban loft set, or shoot a commercial.

Incredible Filming Spaces in Chicago Start at $20/hour

Exceptional Variety & Quality: Giggster can connect you to hundreds of film locations in Chicago, from South Side row houses to film studio backlots. Shoot your movie in a top city location, starting at $20/hour.

Hassle-Free Booking: Our site gets you from searching and finding a film location to booking it in no time. Every listing details what the shoot venue offers to narrow your options quickly.

24-Hour Free Cancellation Policy: Many things can cause shoot delays, and Giggster gives you a 24-hour grace period to cancel your booking without charges.

Platform Protections: Once you've chosen a movie set or production location, Giggster lets you add optional liability insurance to the booking. You can rent a shooting backdrop like our Mid-Century Modern CreativePhoto/Production Studio without worrying about covering possible cancellations or damages.

Things to Consider When Filming in Chicago

Most of our favorite movies have roots in Chicago, including "The Dark Knight" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." The city also hosts many industry events, including the Chicago International Film Festival. You can add the "filmed in Chicago" tagline to your credits with the help of Giggster's {{LOCATIONS_COUNT} listings. Before signing a rental agreement, discover how the city's known advantages and possible challenges can affect your booking.

Advantages

• Resting strategically on Lake Michigan, Chicago presents a compelling reason to explore waterfront shoot locations. The image of water lapping against the shores adds cinematic value to all films and visual projects.

• From the bakeries along State St. to the international dishes served by the River North restaurants, Chi-town is known for its world-class food scene. Getting a local caterer to deliver delicious meals on set is a real treat, and the culinary scene also provides plenty of inspiration for food documentaries.

• Life in Chicago revolves around cultural influences, from theatres staging notable plays to music venues hosting sold-out shows. It's an ideal setting to produce movies and visual content centered on theater, music, or dance.

Disadvantages

• Ranked fifth on the list of world cities with the worst traffic, it tells you that you should brace yourself for hair-raising snarlups. I-90, running from West Division St. to Clybourn, is slightly quicker, something worth noting when mapping your commute.

• Chicago has a history with crime, where gangsters, the likes of John Dillinger and Face Nelson, reigned terror, and security is still a concern in some neighborhoods.

• Below-freezing winter weather puts the city at a standstill, and December and February are not the best time to produce movies.

The Best Filming Spaces in Chicago

Rob Gordon and John Cusack took us around the Wicker Park neighborhood. They introduced us to Championship Vinyl, which occupied the lower floor of the Flat Iron Building, in "High Fidelity." Joel Goodsen and Tom Cruise acquainted us with the North Shore area in "Risky Business. It's easy to see why Chicago should be the main character in your scheduled movie, and Giggster can help you find the ultimate filming location.

• Hospitals - Medical Scenes. Authentically capture the medical environment in a hospital for a video meant to train students or a movie scene at a treatment center. Giggster's Mid-Century Modern CreativePhoto/Production Studio is a suitable setting for your medical scenes.

• Parking Garages - Movie Scenes. The Dark Knight has a scene where Scarecrow gets arrested at a parking garage located at 200 West Randolph Street. There's also a scene shot at Union Station, where an illegal court sentenced Commissioner Gordon. You can book a Giggster parking area to film similar shots for your movie.

• Film Studios - Scripted Shows. Film studios house several sets, and most can recreate different shoot locations. For instance, the Blues Brothers recreated some scenes at a Universal Studios soundstage in Los Angeles.

• Mansions - Films. In "The Dark Knight," Bruce Wayne, aka Batman, lives in a penthouse filmed at 71 East Wacker Drive. A residential building is one of the standard shoot backdrops in most films. The South Side has residences that can add cinematic value to your production.

• Bars and Clubs - Movie Shoots. High Fidelity used the Green Mill Cocktail Lounge to film a jazz club scene. It's the perfect example of how a bar or club can drive a story along or add diversity to the on-screen locations.

Planning Your Film Shoot in Chicago

Chicago has all it takes to produce all films, whether creating a birthday reel for a friend or producing a blockbuster movie. Giggster makes finding your perfect shoot setting hassle-free, helping you book top backdrops for your Main St. scene or establishing shots. The "filmed in Chicago" tag holds weight; these tips can help you produce more impactful content.

Scout Locations – Finding production locations involves a lot of work, starting with identifying suitable settings for different scenes. Before the shoot date, visit each site on various occasions to assess lighting needs and the sound situation.

Plan Test Shoots – Schedule test shoots to review different technical aspects while scouting locations. The mini-shoot can also identify unique highlights, such as the ambient light sources at each location, such as the sun or moon.

Have a Production Office – All films, whether shot in studios or at different locations, have a production office as their operation base. The office describes the film producer's team, including the assistant director, production manager, and production assistants. The operations run from a house or building where administrative tasks happen.

Take Promotional Images – The main image that should appear on all promotional materials deserves some thought. Schedule a test shoot with the main cast and crew, which will also provide plenty of pictures for the movie's website and social media.

How to Save Money on Your Film Production in Chicago

Films are costly projects, whether shot in studios or real-life locations. Several cost-saving measures can help with your next production.

Use The Dark Knight and Blues Brothers for budgeting inspiration.

"The Blues Brothers" allegedly funded the main characters' drug habits and went over budget. Christopher Nolan shot his 2008 superhero film using IMAX cameras, contributing to its $200 million budget. Stick with your budget to avoid spending inconsequentially.

Look at Downtown Chicago and beyond for shoot locations.

The centrally located shoot locations in the downtown area are among the costliest, but Chicago has many affordable options. Studios can also save money because most provide professional equipment and production assistance.

Can you schedule your film shoot in the off-season?

Scheduling is one of the most crucial production aspects, and choosing off-season dates might earn you shoot location discounts.

Chicago Production with Giggster

Chicago has many scenic locations you can feature in your movie. Browse the Giggster app for access to hundreds of suitable listings. Let your creativity shine in the Windy City!

10 Iconic Filming Locations in Chicago

Written by: Sofia Voss

The Windy City is often called the Second City, the name of Chicago’s most famous comedy troupe. Giggster looks at iconic films shot in Chicago.

When thinking of the intersection between major U.S. cities and film, images of New York and Los Angeles are the first to come to mind—and for good reason. Outside of being the two biggest cities in America, both have become a haven for trend-setting, critically acclaimed films and filmmakers.

Spike Lee’s “Do The Right Thing” captures the energy of 1980s NYC culture, while films like “La La Land” and “Sunset Boulevard” channel the quirks of Los Angeles and the film industry.

That being said, the third most populous city in the United States surely deserves the same kind of credit for its filmmaking and cultural significance. Chicago was a leader in independent film production and film patronage throughout the early 1900s.

Even after, when Hollywood was established as the center for filmmaking, Chicago remained vital in its extensive film distribution and theater chains. The 1980s saw the resurgence of filmmaking in Chicago, thanks to hit films like “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and “The Blues Brothers” and things have only grown since then.

To honor Chicago’s rich film history, Giggster researched 10 famous film locations—complete with addresses—that you can visit, from a train station in the Loop to a forested glass house on the outskirts of town.

The Younger’s new house in ‘A Raisin in the Sun’

- Location: 4930 W. Hirsch St.

While this house fits snugly in its Austin, Chicago, neighborhood, its iconic use in the film “A Raisin in the Sun” elevates its status from quaint home to racial status symbol.

Based on the famous play by Lorraine Hansberry, this 1961 film follows an African American family called the Youngers as they make plans to move up economically and socially from the inequity and segregation of Chicago's South Side.

When the family settles on buying a house in an upscale, all-white neighborhood, the Youngers are met headfirst by racist neighbors determined to keep the family out.

The home on Hirsch Street the Youngers plan to move into evolves beyond a physical place for them to stay, becoming a metaphor for the Youngers' dreams and the societal status of Black Americans in the 1960s.

Deliberately shot in black and white, the scenes in the home are often lit with a medium-to-high contrast to illustrate the narrative tension further.

Austin is now a predominantly Black neighborhood, but was mostly white at the time of filming; in fact, white families in the area at the time protested the idea of an African American movie being shot in their neighborhood.

Green Mill Cocktail Lounge from ‘Thief’

- Location: 4802 N. Broadway

“Thief” is a critically acclaimed, neo-noir following one man’s safecracking life of crime. The gritty bar featured in the movie, now referred to as the Green Mill, was once the Green Mill Cocktail Lounge with a notorious, 100-plus-years history.

Names associated with the lounge in its early days include gangsters Al Capone and Machine Gun Jack McGurn. One of the bar's more notable moments involved comedian Joe E. Lewis getting brutally attacked.

The Green Mill is located in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood and is one of the area’s most sought-after attractions for tourists and film buffs.

The chase scene tunnel from ‘The Dark Knight’

- Location: Lower Wacker Drive

It’s understood that the fictional city of Gotham from the extensive Batman universe is a tribute to New York City—but that didn’t stop director Christopher Nolan from finding inspiration for his Gotham in Chicago.

Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” was a critical success, far surpassing its status as a comic book movie, with famed film critic Roger Ebert calling it a “haunted film” and “engrossing tragedy.”

One of its more haunting moments is the chase scene between Batman, Gotham PD, and the Joker, in which the latter is attempting to murder politician Harvey Dent.

This chase was filmed in Chicago’s Lower Wacker Drive, which is famous, or infamous, for its barren concrete construction, allure to drag racers, and being so difficult to navigate that even navigation apps didn't work until around 2018.

These elements, in addition to the cinematography of “The Dark Knight,” combine to create one of the most disorienting, creepy, and adrenaline-inducing car chases on screen.

The bridge from the bridge jump in ‘The Blues Brothers’

- Location: 95th Street Bridge

John Landis’s musical comedy “The Blues Brothers” is #8 in Forbes’ list of films that destroyed the most cars, coming in at a whopping 104 cars wrecked during production (60 of which were cop cars). However, the first major car stunt of the movie does not end in the vehicular wreckage that becomes the norm,—even if it should have.

Elwood (Dan Aykroyd) and Jake Blues (John Belushi), on their way back home after Jake is released from prison, drive their repurposed cop car the “Bluesmobile” over Chicago’s 95th Street Bridge as the two sections lift to make way for a boat passage below. The pair use the bridge as a massive ramp in an absurdly large jump.

The bridge still stands, albeit bearing different color from its appearance in the film.

The Cabrini Rowhouses from ‘Candyman’

- Location: 900 N. Cleveland Ave.

While “Candyman” is a horror film about the hook-handed ghost of a formerly enslaved man, the film’s depiction of the Cabrini-Green Homes of Chicago is firmly based on reality.

Housing projects were originally created as a federal response to the unethical living conditions of the lower class in major cities. With time and severe budget cuts, however, these projects and the people in them were largely left to their own devices. Cabrini-Green was a real project in North Side Chicago and a notorious example of how racism contributed to the downfall of housing projects.

Despite many projects being torn down, the original Rowhouses of Cabrini where “Candyman” was filmed are still standing today.

Cameron’s Highland Park house in ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’

- Location: 370 Beech St.

“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” filmed several classic scenes in the iconic home of Cameron Frye (Alan Ruck), including the one where fake-sick Ferris (Matthew Broderick) bullies real-sick Cameron into his schemes, and the emotional climax of the film in which Cameron has a breakdown and wrecks his father’s beloved, classic Ferrari. Located in the desirable Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Cameron’s house borders Lake Michigan north of downtown Chicago.

The home, featuring large, transparent window panes, stands in as a kind of prison for Cameron who can see everything yet do nothing. On a practical level, the windows are the result of the mid-century modern style—the same style a 2011 realtor blamed for the home's lack of buyers.

The Atlantic City Nine Ball Classic in ‘The Color of Money’

- Location: Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand Ave.

Martin Scorsese’s star-studded film “The Color of Money” is a pool-based sports film following Paul Newman and Tom Cruise as they journey from Chicago to Atlantic City for a tournament. Many locations seen on screen were filmed in Illinois despite the narrative leaving Chicago fairly early on—the climax of the film being no exception.

While the protagonists’ pool competition takes place in the Resorts International Hotel in Atlantic City, the building where said competition was filmed is actually at Navy Pier. Navy Pier is a major cultural center of Chicago, featuring a beer garden, children’s museum, Shakespeare theater, and more.

“The Color of Money” used the Pier’s Aon Grand Ballroom, which has existed since the Pier’s inception in 1916, and features an 80-foot-tall arched ceiling and extensive view of Lake Michigan. The ballroom looks rather different in the film with its windows blocked off and around 30 pool tables covering the floor.

Andy’s apartment in the original ‘Child’s Play’

- Location: Brewster Apartments, 2800 N. Pine Grove Ave.

One of the scariest elements of Tom Holland’s “Child’s Play” is the invasion of the domestic space, emphasized by how almost every scene with the haunted Chucky doll takes place in the protagonists’ apartment.

With this in mind, there’s no more iconic “Child’s Play” location than the Brewster Apartments in the Lake View neighborhood of Chicago’s North Side.

Chucky is not the only celebrity to reside here, as “Running Scared” with Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal also filmed at the Brewster.

The building has its own haunting history outside of the film: WBEZ Chicago reports that in 1895 a publisher fell off the building’s roof and now haunts the apartments. That gets a little more relevant as a scene in “Child’s Play” has the family’s babysitter fall off the building.

Union Station in ‘The Untouchables’

- Location: 225 S. Canal St.

The use of Union Station in Brian De Palma’s “The Untouchables” has become so iconic that the stairs used in the scene are referred to as the Untouchables’ Stairs. These stairs are the location in which Kevin Costner, playing special agent Eliot Ness, comes face-to-face with the henchmen of Al Capone for an epic shootout.

Union Station is a historical transportation hub built in 1925 in the Beaux-Arts architecture style. The station has since 2012 been undergoing a series of renovations meant to benefit its function and aesthetic.

Out of all its beautiful locations, De Palma chose to film on the grand staircase that connects visitors from the Canal Street entrance to the Great Hall of the Station, made out of marble and travertine that combine for an ornate background for blood to spill.

“The Untouchables” is not the only movie to feature this location: “Public Enemies,” “Road to Perdition,” and “My Best Friend’s Wedding” have all featured the Chicago landmark.

The movie theater from ‘High Fidelity’

- Location: Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave.

Stephen Frear’s “High Fidelity” is an overt homage to music, breakups, and how music gets people through breakups. However, the film also feels like a tribute to its setting, Chicago’s Wicker Park.

Based on the novel of the same name by Nick Hornby in 1995, it might surprise some fans to discover that the original narrative takes place in Hornby’s home of London and not Chicago. Still, the film transitions seamlessly into the trendy neighborhood of Wicker Park and features many of its well-known locations.

Among those is the Music Box Theatre, where our protagonist Rob Gordon (John Cusack) revisits his second ex, a film critic named Penny Hardwick (Joelle Carter), to discover what makes women always break up with him.

The theater has existed since August 1929, two months before the Great Depression began, and as such maintains the grandiose style of movie theaters that is more akin to today’s opera houses and Broadway venues.

Fitted with a massive neon sign and marquee, the Music Box describes itself as “a symbol of Chicago’s go-to venue for independent, foreign, cult, and classic films,” simultaneously showing high-quality reissues of films (including “High Fidelity,” naturally) and new releases.