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 1993 comedy “Grumpy Old Men,” starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, was filmed in Minnesota. The houses seen in the film can be found in St Paul. Here is the home of John Gustafson, played by Lemmon.
LOCATION: 1133 Hyacinth Ave E, St Paul, MN 55106
Here is the home of Max Goldman, played by Matthau.
LOCATION: 1137 Hyacinth Ave E, St Paul, MN 55106
The two houses are of course located side by side, as depicted in the film.
Directly across the street from those two houses is the home of Ariel Truax, played by Ann-Margret. All three homes appeared once again in the sequel, “Grumpier Old Men.”
The 1996 Coen Brothers film “Fargo” is set in North Dakota and Minnesota and while some filming did occur in both states, none took place in the titular city of Fargo, North Dakota. The majority of the film was shot around the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, but due to some unusually low snowfall in the winter of 1995 when filming took place, some shots were done in Northern Minnesota and North Dakota.
Jerry Lundegaard, played by William H. Macy, meets with Carl Showalter and Gaear Grimsrud, played by Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare, at The King of Clubs, supposedly located in Fargo. The real building was located near 929 NE Central Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55413, but was demolished in 2003.
The home of Jerry Lundegaard is supposedly located in Minneapolis. The real home is located nearby in Eden Prairie.
LOCATION: 6358 Ginger Dr, Eden Prairie, MN 55346
The Blue Ox Motel, where Carl Showalter and Gaear Grimsrud have sex with two prostitutes, was actually a truck stop in South St Paul, which was dressed to look like a motel for the film
LOCATION: 501 Farwell Ave, South St Paul, MN 55075
Police chief Marge Gunderson, played by Frances McDormand, interviews the two prostitutes at the Lakeside Club in Mahtomedi. The building looked nearly identical to how it appeared in the film, but was demolished in 2022. However, we were able to visit while it still stood.
LOCATION: 10 Old Wildwood Rd, Mahtomedi, MN 55115 (now demolished)
According to several sources online, the interior kitchen of the Gunderson house was located at 2215 Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55404. There are real estate listings online and while the garage seen through the kitchen window appears to match up to the current property.
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 1992 hockey comedy “The Mighty Ducks,” starring Emilio Estevez, was filmed around Minnesota. In the film, Charlie’s mother Casey works at Mickey’s Dining Car. Gordon Bombay, played by Estevez, visits the diner to speak to Charlie, where he tells him he’s stepping down as coach of The Mighty Ducks. The same diner appeared in the sequels “D2: The Mighty Ducks” and “D3: The Mighty Ducks,” as well as such films as “Jingle All The Way” and “A Prairie Home Companion.” At this time, the diner is closed indefinitely, but it is rumored to potentially reopen sometime in 2022.
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 