Film Crews Take Over Old Joliet Prison For New Show

JOLIET, IL — With several inches of snow on the ground, the Old Joliet Prison is not conducive for walking tours right now, but that does not mean the 1858-era limestone fortress along Collins Street isn't being put to good use.

On Monday, the parking lot next to the old prison administration building had several trucks affiliated with the Twentieth Century Fox Filmcorp.

The Old Joliet Prison is being used as the backdrop for a new TV pilot.

"We're under the impression that it's a major new TV pilot," Joliet Area Historical Museum director Greg Peerbolte told Patch.

Representatives of the new Fox TV pilot told Joliet Patch that they were not authorized to offer any details about their show still in the works. Several members of the TV production crew were coming and going from the prison parking lot for a late lunch around 2 p.m. Monday.

Also, a couple of Joliet police cars were parked near the prison entrance along Collins Street to provide crews to keep visitors away during the television show filming.

"It provides revenue for us at a time of the year that we may not be utilizing the property," Peerbolte said. "It's a regular occurrence to have film crews scout there but also in Joliet."

During the spring, summer and fall, the Joliet Area Historical Museum offers guided tours of the Old Joliet Prison, which became world-famous in the 1980 John Landis movie, "The Blues Brothers."

Peerbolte said that crews from the television show, Fargo, filmed at the Old Joliet Prison last summer, and several independent films also used the prison for various filming in 2020.

Joliet has had its share of TV crews in town as of late.

In December, Joliet Patch reported that more than 100 people with a television film and production crew were using Joliet's Blackburn Funeral Home to house their equipment as they're busy filming a new television pilot reportedly called "Single Drunk Female" at a house on Joliet's west side on Mason Street.

That same month, a brand-new Fox TV "dramedy" has taken over the Rialto Square Theatre in downtown Joliet to start filming "The Big Leap."

Peerbolte said the filming taking place this week at the Old Joliet Prison is for a show that is not affiliated with "Single Drunk Female" or "The Big Leap."