John Hughes filmed The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller's Day Off just eight months apart at the same high school in Illinois. He reused many of the same crew members and locations, and eagle-eyed viewers can spot identical hallways, lockers, and even some of the same posters on the walls.
John Hughes Used the Same High School for Two Iconic Films
If you've ever watched The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller's Day Off back to back, you might have experienced a strange sense of déjà vu. Those hallways look familiar. Those lockers seem oddly recognizable. That's because John Hughes filmed both movies at the same location—and he wasn't shy about recycling everything he could.
The Shermer High School Cinematic Universe
Both films were shot at Maine North High School in Des Plaines, Illinois. The school had closed in 1981, making it the perfect empty canvas for Hughes's vision of suburban teenage life. The Breakfast Club wrapped in early 1984, and just eight months later, Hughes was back in those same hallways filming Ferris Bueller.
Hughes didn't just reuse the building. He brought back many of the same crew members, creating an efficient filmmaking machine that understood his vision. The result? Two of the most beloved teen movies ever made, produced with remarkable economy.
Spot the Easter Eggs
Dedicated fans have catalogued the similarities:
- The same trophy cases appear in both films
- Identical classroom layouts and furniture
- Matching locker configurations in the hallways
- Several wall posters that appear in both movies
- The same gymnasium where Claire dances in Breakfast Club and where Ferris's absence is announced
These weren't accidental overlaps—Hughes was working fast and smart, knowing that different camera angles and contexts would make the same spaces feel fresh.
Hughes's Chicago Factory
This efficiency was characteristic of Hughes's incredible run in the mid-1980s. Between 1984 and 1986, he wrote and directed Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off—plus he wrote Pretty in Pink. The man was a creative machine, and reusing proven locations and trusted crew members was part of how he maintained that pace.
Maine North High School became so synonymous with Hughes's work that fans still make pilgrimages there. The building was eventually demolished in 2008, but its hallways live on in two films that defined a generation's understanding of high school.
A Shared Universe Before It Was Cool
Hughes actually intended for his films to share a fictional universe. Both schools are supposedly in Shermer, Illinois—a fictional suburb that appears across his filmography. The reused locations weren't just cost-saving measures; they were world-building.
So next time you watch Ferris outsmart Principal Rooney, remember that John Bender once served detention in that very same building. Same halls. Same lockers. Same magic.