The actor and comedian Bob Odenkirk will visit Normal next week for a preview screening of his new film Normal, and yes, it's happening at the Normal Theater.
“It was the result of a long-term relationship, and the final form of a Dad joke,” laughed Adam Fox, civic arts manager for the Town of Normal.
Odenkirk will appear in person Thursday, April 2, for the preview screening of Normal. The Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul actor will appear on stage for a discussion after the film alongside screenwriter Derek Kolstad, with whom he also collaborated on the Nobody films.
It took months of planning and a bit of serendipity for the Town of Normal to land the screening as part of Normal’s pre-release tour, Fox said. The historic theater has a longstanding relationship with the distributor, Magnolia Pictures.
“As we’re going along, more and more names are getting added to the email chain about it. I wondered who all those people are. We threw out a couple of dates, and somebody says, ‘Alright, we’ll have to check with Bob’s schedule.’ Oh, there’s a Bob in the movie, I wonder … Oh, that’s the Bob they’re talking about!” Fox said. “They knew how hysterical it would be to bring it to the theater with Normal on the marquee, which is a joke I made immediately.”
It's a ticketed event. The first batch of tickets went quickly after being released March 13.
There will be a “good number” of tickets available day-of too, said Fox. They’ll become available in-person only (not online) at the Normal Theater box office starting at 4:30 p.m. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m., and the screening begins at 6:30 p.m.
A lot of people have asked whether Odenkirk and Kolstad will sign autographs or memorabilia while in town. Local organizers don’t yet know, Fox said.
“It’s possible day-of that they’ll make a gametime decision and say, ‘We’ll sign some stuff, come on up,’ but I don’t know and I can’t guarantee it,” Fox said.
Normal is described as a neo-Western thriller. In the film, Odenkirk's character takes over as sheriff in the small Midwestern town of Normal where a “botched bank robbery exposes a dangerous secret beneath the town's calm exterior,” according to the film’s synopsis. The movie is set in the fictional town of Normal, Minnesota. It was filmed in and around Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada.
Normal will be released in movie theaters everywhere April 17.
