JAIL BAIT

Producer Irwin Yablans goes to prison tomorrow.

No, not another Hollywood scandal. Yablans (“Halloween”) is headed for Wyoming State Prison to audition some 400 “residents” for principal and extra parts in his next horror pic, “The Prison,” from Empire (screen tests will be made on the prison’s video equipment). The film starts shooting April 27, “obviously under heavy guard.”

Story line has officials opening up an antiquated prison temporarily to house incorrigibles until a new prison can be built. Trouble is, the ghost of the last executed prisoner still haunts the old place, the new warden supervised his hanging . . . you get the idea. Renny Harlin directs from a script by C. Courtney Joyner.

Yablans will shoot in the old Wyoming State Prison, seven miles from the current one. Closed 25 years ago because of its inhumane conditions, the tiny cells and execution chamber are chillingly intact, Yablans said.

Prisoners are reportedly eager to go before the cameras (the real warden’s also up for a part). But when Yablans found a tattooed convict who’s perfect for an illustrated character in the story, casting wasn’t automatic.

According to Yablans, “He wants to read the script first.”