WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for director Brad Peyton's Rampage, in theaters Friday nationwide.

When a giant movie monster emerges with murderous intent, there's one rule that generally holds true: the bigger the stakes, the more effective the thrills. That's why the traditional stomping grounds of kaiju tend to be heavily populated metropolitan areas like New York City, Tokyo and San Francisco. Whether it be gleaming skyscrapers, an iconic tower or a massive bridge used by millions every month, each locale has its own landmarks that would become a mere memory if said monster could not be stopped.

It is interesting, then, that the latest big monster movie on the docket, Rampage, sees most of its action go down in Chicago, a city largely untouched by movie monsters. The film's three behemoths are lured to Chicago via a homing signal atop Energyne's headquarters, the idea being that once they've been corralled an antidote can be administered (all while creating a plausible reason for their citywide, er, rampage). Of course, there is a very good reason George, Lizzie and Ralph tear through the Windy City -- it's their hometown of sorts.

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Rampage is an adaptation of an arcade game of the same name developed by the now-defunct Midway Games. Founded as Midway Manufacturing in 1958, the company became a major force in the burgeoning arcade scene of the ‘70s, all from its headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. The echo of Midway Games can still be heard in Chicago, as numerous developers from the company branched off to create their own studios in the area, like Iron Galaxy and NetherRealm Studios, the latter of which went on to hold the Mortal Kombat torch after Midway, the series’ original developer, folded.

But the Rampage arcade game was not known for its connections to Chicago so much as it was for putting another Illinois city on the map: Peoria, the game’s starting location. Rampage led players through a whirlwind tour of destruction across 43 cities in the United States and two Canadian provinces, but it all started in Peoria, and eventually ended in Plano, Illinois. According to the Peoria Journal Star, there's a reason why these two small cities, hardly fodder for monster movies, received the distinction of being first and last on the list.

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The unlikely decision came down to the game’s developers, Brian Colin and Jeff Nauman. At the outset, the game was going to start in Chicago, but the idea of launching the action in such a populated city had the potential to disrupt progression. Instead, a smaller city was needed to make players feel as if they were ramping up to bigger, more daunting locations.

“The filmmaker in me said, ‘If it’s going to do well, it’s got to play in Peoria,’” Colin said.

The phrase “Will it play in Peoria?” is a regional saying turned mainstream, coined in 1890 by author Horatio Alger Jr. It casts Peoria as the meeting point of various America demographics, meaning that if a piece of media can be successful in Peoria, then it stands a chance of being accepted across the country. So, starting off Rampage in Peoria was a homage on the developer’s part, mixed with a dash of game-narrative necessity.

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“We always liked to put personal touches in there when we could,” Nauman said. “Peoria just seemed to be a natural starting point.”

As for Plano, the connection is all the more personal. Colin was raised in Plano, a small town that, in 2010, boasted a population of just over 10,000 (up by half since the 2000 census). Plano’s only other major claim to fame is that it was used as a filming location for 2013's Man of Steel. In Rampage, however, the town acts as a discrete signature in a game book-ended by oft-overlooked Illinois cities, while the film's primary location, Chicago, is a direct reference to its Midway origins.

In theaters Friday nationwide, director Brad Peyton’s Rampage stars Dwayne Johnson, Naomie Harris, Malin Åkerman, Joe Manganiello, Jake Lacy, Marley Shelton and Jeffrey Dean Morgan.