Shannen Doherty and director Kevin Smith on the set of the 1995 film “Mallrats,” with Jason Lee looking on. The movie was filmed in Eden Prairie Center. Photo courtesy of Gramercy Pictures/Universal Pictures via MovieStillsDB.com.
Thirty years ago, on Oct. 20, 1995, “Mallrats” hit theaters — and for Eden Prairie Center, that comedy about slackers, comic books and food-court philosophy remains its most famous starring role.
Promotional artwork for Kevin Smith’s 1995 film “Mallrats,” which was filmed at Eden Prairie Center. Image courtesy of Gramercy Pictures/Universal Pictures via MovieStillsDB.com. Artwork by Duncan Fegredo
The film’s writer-director, Kevin Smith, has often said the suburban mall represented “a doorway to my future.” In 1995, that future cost $10,000 — the fee Smith paid to rent out the half-empty mall for a few winter months to make his second film.
“Due to the Mall of America opening a mere few miles away, this unsung shopping center was then at half-capacity, which made them open to the idea of our production moving in,” Smith told Eden Prairie Local News in 2022. “And considering what malls meant to my generation growing up, it was a personal triumph as much as a professional one.”
Back then, Eden Prairie Center wasn’t the gleaming retail hub of today. There were no AMC Theatres, Von Maur, Barnes & Noble or Scheels. Instead, it became Smith’s private studio — the set, production office and sleeping quarters for a cast and crew of 50 to 60.
“Hidden behind the facades of fake stores like Rug Munchers and Fashionable Male was the production design department, the wardrobe department, etc.,” he said. “We shot an entire motion picture inside a giant cinder block, just like they did at Universal and Paramount.”
In 2022, Kevin Smith posted photos to his Twitter account showing him outside the Kohl’s building at Eden Prairie Center — one of the spots used during a chase scene in “Mallrats.”
The result was a box-office flop that later became a cult classic, featuring early performances by Jason Lee, Shannen Doherty, Jeremy London, Ben Affleck and a cameo from Marvel legend Stan Lee.
Smith has returned to Eden Prairie Center several times since — often quietly. In a 2017 Facebook video, he filmed himself wandering the mall, marveling at how much had changed — except the elevator near Von Maur, where several memorable scenes were shot.
“It’s big,” Smith said in the video. “We had a whole film crew in here and two (actors) and stuff. It’s nice to see that it’s still up and thriving.”
He stopped by again in 2022 while in Minnesota, revisiting the loading dock and exterior wall along the side of Kohl’s — spots used in a chase scene with his on-screen alter ego, Silent Bob. “Only those two exteriors have looked the same for 27 years,” Smith said then. “Bittersweet.”
A screening that wasn’t
This summer, Smith hinted during an interview on KQRS’s “Gorman in the Morning” show that he wanted to bring “Mallrats” back to its cinematic birthplace for the film’s 30th anniversary.
“We tried a few years ago to screen ‘Mallrats’ at the movie theater at the mall, and it fell through,” Smith said. “But this would be the year to do it. It’s the 30th anniversary. We’re planning screenings in Los Angeles, but you’ve lit a fire under me — we’ve got to make it happen at Eden Prairie Center. That would sell out in a heartbeat.”
The idea sparked local excitement — but it never came together.
Eden Prairie Center General Manager Nancy Litwin said AMC Eden Prairie Mall 18 confirmed that Kevin Smith would not be coming to host a screening.
Litwin said AMC also asked Universal Pictures — which now owns the rights to “Mallrats,” originally released by Gramercy Pictures, a joint venture between PolyGram and Universal — about showing the film for a one-day or limited run, but the studio is not approving the location at this time. She added that AMC will continue to follow up with the studio.
Actors Jason Lee and Jeremy London pose as their characters Brodie and T.S. Quint in a publicity still for the 1995 film “Mallrats,” with Eden Prairie Center visible in the background. Photo courtesy of Gramercy Pictures/Universal Pictures via MovieStillsDB.com.
‘It’s home, kind of’
Inside Potbelly Sandwich Shop at Eden Prairie Center, a framed “Mallrats” poster still hangs above the doorway to the back room — the only public reminder that the movie filmed there three decades ago.
Smith mentioned the poster in his 2022 interview with EPLN. During that same year, one employee looked up from behind the counter when asked about it. He hadn’t realized the movie was shot at the mall. He grinned, then nodded toward the poster. “Oh, that’s why it’s there,” he said.
“It’s home, kind of, even though it doesn’t look like the mall I shot in,” Smith once said. “It’s in Minnesota. Obviously, this mall is way important to me.”
A gallery of behind-the-scenes photos from the filming can be found on Smith’s website, viewaskew.com.