“Route 66: Main Street of America” Documentary Film by John Paget World Premier in Illinois
Route 66: The Main Street of America will premiere as a moving celebration: a cross-country film screening tour down Historic Route 66. Partnering with local entities along the historic highway (Main Street programs, downtown associations, tourism bureaus and chambers of commerce), we’ll screen the film at 40+ events at select drive-ins and historic theaters from Chicago to LA. These screenings will be multi-faceted community celebration events, with live entertainment, crew and characters from the film, and other special guests from local stretches of Route 66.
Screenings of the film in Illinois will be from September 3rd-10th, 2026.
The Worldwide Film Premiere will be in Chicago on September 3 – Venue TBA.
Additional opportunities to see the film include:
September 4 – Old Joliet Prison Historic Site in Joliet
September 5 – The Eagle Theater in Pontiac
September 6 – Normal Theater in Bloomington-Normal
September 8 – Route 66 Motorheads Bar & Grill, Museum and Entertainment Complex in Springfield
September 9 – Litchfield – Venue TBA
September 10 – Wildey Theatre in Edwardsville
John Paget is an award-winning documentary filmmaker with deep roots on Route 66. In 1994, he strapped a TV camera to the hood of a 1969 cotillion white convertible Cadillac Coupe de Ville and hit the road. Destination: Route 66. It was the first of multiple cross-country trips on the Mother Road, during which John directed, shot, and edited Route 66: An American Odyssey and Route 66: Return to the Road with Martin Milner – documentary films that rank as the pinnacle among devoted Route 66 historians and advocates.
While researching, producing and promoting these films, John traveled the length of Route 66 a dozen times. And he met and worked with the road’s most iconic legends – singer Bobby Troup (1918-1999), TV-star Martin Milner (1931-2015) and Seligman barber Angel Delgadillo (considered the father of Historic Route 66) and best-selling author Michael Wallis (Route 66: The Mother Road).
