The 1984 film “Purple Rain,” starring Prince, was shot around Minneapolis, Minnesota and Los Angeles, California. Early in the film, The Kid, played by Prince, is seen performing at the First Avenue nightclub with The Revolution. The venue is seen multiple times throughout the film.
LOCATION: 701 N 1st Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55403
The exterior of the venue was actually a composite of two locations. Close-ups of the box office area were filmed at The Wiltern in Los Angeles.
LOCATION: 3790 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90010
The Kid’s house can be found in Minneapolis. Less than a year before his death, Prince actually purchased the home in 2015.
Later in the film, The Kid drives up to check on his mother, who is sitting on the curb. These scenes were filmed in Los Angeles. While his mother is sitting in front of 922 Irolo St, only the view across the street is seen, facing 919 Irolo St.
LOCATION: 922 Irolo St, Los Angeles, CA 90006 (facing 919 Irolo St, Los Angeles, CA 90006)
The 1991 comedy “Drop Dead Fred,” starring Phoebe Cates and Rik Mayall, was filmed in Minnesota. In the film, Elizabeth, played by Cates, lives at this home, located in Minneapolis.
The 1996 holiday comedy “Jingle All the Way,” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, was primarily filmed around Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, with a few additional scenes filmed around Southern California.
The opening “Turbo Man” sequence takes place at Vasquez Rocks in Agua Dulce, California. Countless films have also shot scenes at Vasquez Rocks, including “The Flintstones,” “Dante’s Peak,” “Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back,” “Hail, Caesar!,” “Blazing Saddles,” “Paul,” “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey,” “Hell Comes to Frogtown” and dozens more. Television shows which featured Vasquez Rocks in episodes include “The Fugutive,” “The A-Team,” “MacGuyver” and perhaps most famous of all, the original “Star Trek” series, where the rocks were seen in numerous episodes, serving as multiple different planets. The rocks are part of a Natural Area Park and open to the public from sunrise to sunset.
LOCATION: 10700 Escondido Canyon Rd, Agua Dulce, CA 91350
Howard Langston, played by Schwarzenegger, lives with his family at this home, located near Edina, Minnesota.
LOCATION: 5028 Bruce Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55424
Ted, played by Phil Hartman, lives next door at this home.
LOCATION: 5026 Bruce Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55424
After running out of gas, Howard pushes his car to Mickey’s Dining Car. Only the exterior was used in the film, the interior scenes were built on a set. The same diner has been seen in the films “The Mighty Ducks,” “D2: The Mighty Ducks,” “D3: The Mighty Ducks” and “A Prairie Home Companion.” At this time, the diner is closed indefinitely, but it is rumored to potentially reopen sometime in 2022.
The 1995 Kevin Smith film “Mallrats” was mostly filmed in Minnesota, with some scenes filmed in Smith’s native New Jersey, as well as a few additional scenes shot in Los Angeles, California. There are several existing cuts of the film, the two most famous being the theatrical cut and the extended cut. Some locations only appear in certain cuts, which we’ll note in this article.
The house of Brodie, played by Jason Lee, can be found in Minneapolis.
LOCATION: 4808 Valley View Rd, Minneapolis, MN 55424
As TS Quint, played by Jeremy London, drives to the house of Brandi, played by Claire Forlani, he drives past the Quick Stop Groceries, which is of course famous for being the central location of Smith’s first film, “Clerks.” The store only appears in the extended cut of the film. The location has appeared in many of Smith’s other films as well, such as “Chasing Amy,” “Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back,” “Clerks II” and “Clerks III.”
LOCATION: 58 Leonard Ave, Leonardo, NJ 07737
The location of the house of Brandi is confusing because two different places were used and depending on which cut of the film you see, different houses appear. The extended cut of the film features the original location in Minnesota, where a news crew waits outside as TS visits with Brodie. After the original movie opening performed poorly with test audiences, the opening was reshot in Los Angeles. For the shorter, theatrical cut, a totally different home was featured, where TS meets Brandi alone and tries unsuccessfully to take her on a trip to Florida. This is the Los Angeles location of the reshoot scene.
LOCATION: 414 S Rimpau Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90020
Hedges have since been planted along the front of the property, obscuring much of the house from street level.
In the Mallrats audio commentary for the theatrical version, Smith confirms the scene was shot long after the original footage and was indeed filmed in Los Angeles. The location is omitted altogether from the extended cut of the film, in favor of the original footage. The Minnesota location of Brandi’s house, which is only seen in close-up shots, has yet to be found.
The key location of the movie, the Eden Prairie Center Mall, has since been heavily remodeled and no longer appears how it did in the film.
LOCATION: 8251 Flying Cloud Dr, Eden Prairie, MN 55344.
The “dirt mall” where TS Quint and Brodie meet a topless fortune teller has since been demolished. It was formerly located at 17 US-1, New Brunswick, NJ 08901.
At the end of the film, TS and Brandi are married at the Jaws ride, supposedly at Universal Studios Florida. The scene was instead filmed at the Jaws ride at Universal Studios Hollywood.
LOCATION: 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA 91608
Film Oblivion 