Serving the Loop and Near North neighborhoods of downtown Chicago
Fire in the hole and on the bus
August 1, 2010 – (Above) Seen from Marina City, what appears to be a bus explodes in the middle of Wacker Drive Sunday morning. It was a stunt for the new Transformers 3 movie being filmed in Chicago. The bus then broke apart and rolled. The explosions became almost routine for nearby residents and spectators. They were always preceded by a crewmember warning, “Fire in the hole!” They were generally followed by simulated gunfire of automatic weapons and then cheering from the crowds.
Frame from video by west tower resident Mark Pelczarski. Click on image to view larger version. See the entire stunt…
Video by another Marina City resident, architecture writer Lynn Becker, of an afternoon gun battle…
(Above) At Wacker and Wabash late Saturday morning, near Dimmsdale Market (a 7-Eleven in real life), cars are overturned and wrecked, a bus is burned, and part of the Jewelers’ Building (also known as 35 East Wacker Drive) has fallen to the street. Click on images to view larger versions.
(Left) Two fireballs erupt after a movie stunt explosion on Wacker Drive Sunday afternoon in front of the Unitrin and Jewelers’ Buildings.
(Right) Wrecked cars line Wabash Avenue on Saturday as a movie camera on a crane films a scene in the distance.
(Left) As crewmembers prepare for the scene, Shia LaBeouf (center) stands with another actor on a large set made to look like the northeast turret of the Jewelers’ Building has fallen to Wabash Avenue.
(Right) Close-up of a movie camera, attached to a long crane, near the intersection of Wacker Drive and Wabash Avenue.
(Left) In a pile of trash, a discarded box that once contained 60 pounds of breakaway glass from Alfonso’s.
(Right) Closer look at pyrotechnics on Wacker Drive Sunday afternoon.
