Filmmakers Nick and Christopher Markos are shooting a documentary about the closing of Hot Doug’s. Chicago’s legendary encased meats emporium will close shop forever on October 3.

Nick Markos explained the film’s purpose to DNAInfo Chicago:

“Our focus is about the closing and about why the closing of this hot dog stand is such a big deal. It’s not going to be an array of celebrity testimonials. It’s not like a wake for Doug. It’s more of a look at the closing and that something special is going on here.”

Since May, when owner Doug Sohn announced that the restaurant’s last days were upon us, the lines have been getting progressively crazier.

Here’s a Vine from last week:

Crain’s Chicago Business talked to Sohn on Sunday. Sohn had this to say about the lines on Saturday, September 20:

“Yesterday was great. We did stop the line, though, at 11am. And I took the last order at 7:50pm. So, there were people who waited between seven and nine hours.”

Markos Film’s team—comprised of the Markos brothers and a team of Chicago-based volunteer videographers—has been on hand to film the past few weeks, and doesn’t plan to stop until October 3rd comes. DNAInfo Chicago shared Sohn’s take:

“Worst-case scenario: Cool, there’s a document of the last days of this restaurant. The things that have happened at this restaurant over the last 12 years—none of it, I thought, made sense. This is just one more thing. At this point, I’m just rolling with it.“

Nick Markos says the film will feature interviews with Doug Sohn, Hot Doug’s employees, and some of the restaurant’s regulars. He stressed to DNAInfo Chicago that he really just wants regulars, and added, “Juggling chainsaws is not going to get you in the documentary. You’re definitely barking up the wrong tree.”

Asked about how long the finished documentary will be, Nick Markos offered the words every filmgoer hopes are true: “We’re going to make it as long as it needs to be to be really good, and not any longer than that.“

Hot Doug’s is now doing the same thing with its out-of-control lines. Yesterday, they closed the line early and announced it on Facebook and Twitter.

Today, they closed the line at 10:31am local time—just one minute past the time that Hot Doug’s normally opens for business.

Filmmaker Christopher Markos won a Primetime Emmy in 2005 for the Showtime series Huff. The Markos brothers are Chicago natives, and their previous documentary work has been Chicago-focused as well.

[via DNAInfo Chicago, Crain’s Chicago Business]

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