Minnesota is not a lock to be the backdrop for "Mallrats 2," Kevin Smith told me Tuesday.
So think of other questions to ask the writer/director when he conducts "An Evening With Kevin Smith" Friday at the State Theatre in connection with this weekend's Wizard World Comic Con.
"I haven't done a Q&A in Minnesota in a while. It'll be fun to kick back and talk about 'Mallrats' 'cause we are heading into making 'Mallrats 2' in the fall," said Smith. "We are waiting on the availability of an actor. If we get to shoot in Minnesota, that would be a dream. But we've got to see if there are any tax rebates. Sadly, the people with the money are going to make me go wherever we get the biggest tax break. Then from what I understand the Eden Prairie Mall is thriving. When we shot in the mall back in '95 they were below 50 percent occupancy. … From what I understand that mall is alive, it has a movie theater in it. They took out those neon palm trees. Even if we wanted to shoot at that mall, they would probably be like: 'Look. We're an operation. We've got people walking around here, this is an active mall.' Good thing about the United States of America: There are a ton of dead malls."
Smith will cut the ribbon to kick off the Comic Con opening ceremonies at the Minneapolis Convention Center at 5 p.m. Friday.
"Hopefully after that I'll be able to shop the floor," Smith said. "I'm more of a shopper, not really hunting for anything. In the age of eBay you can find whatever you are looking for. When I was growing up I was kind of a poor kid, so I'm used to shopping and not buying. Any comic con floor reminds me of that."
Because Smith is rather recognizable, he may don a costume — perhaps "a fat storm trooper" — for a modicum of anonymity. So he probably won't wear his ubiquitous hockey jersey, although he said he's thrilled to return to the State of Hockey and is excited the Wild made it to the second round.
Smith is my Sunday Q&A. Because he's not one of those guarded celebrities, it's pretty good.
