Making of a Blockbuster: 35 Fascinating Behind the Scene Facts of Popular Movies

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1Robert Zemeckis

Robert Zemeckis

Director Robert Zemeckis, who has approval over all films in the Back to the Future franchise, says that he will block all attempts to remake or reboot the original film.


2. Due to budget issues, the Lord of the Rings trilogy was briefly planned as one film. Helm's Deep and Saruman were cut, Rohan and Gondor merged with Éowyn as Boromir's sister, etc. Upset by the idea of "cutting out half the good stuff," Peter Jackson left Miramax and went to New Line Cinema.


3. There is a hotline that filmmakers can call for science advice (Science and Entertainment Exchange) with the goal of helping filmmakers incorporate accurate science into their films.


4. A complaint among test audiences for the film "Good Night and Good Luck" was that the actor playing Joseph McCarthy was too over the top and wasn't believable, not realizing that the film used actual archive footage of McCarthy himself.


5. In the entire Lord of the Rings film trilogy, no two female characters ever speak to each other.


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6Steve Carell

Steve Carell

NBC renewed 'The Office' for a second season, despite mediocre ratings for the first season, because they anticipated that Steve Carell's film, 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin', would make it a rating success - which it did.


7. Bill Murray improvised nearly all his lines in the movie 'Kingpin' and bowled the necessary 3 strikes to win the tournament at the end.


8. When Uwe Boll (German filmmaker) tried to obtain filming rights for a World of Warcraft movie, Blizzard said: "We will not sell the movie rights, not to you…especially not to you."


9. George Lucas wanted to make a Flash Gordon movie but could not obtain the rights so instead, he created Star Wars.


10. Chris Columbus was originally set to direct National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation movie but dropped out after difficult meetings with star Chevy Chase. Instead, Columbus made Home Alone, the highest grossing Christmas film of all time.


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11Deadpool

Deadpool

Deadpool (2016) is the highest grossing R-rated film of all time, the highest grossing X-Men film, and the highest grossing 20th Century Fox film not directed by James Cameron or George Lucas.


12. Straight Outta Compton movie was never played in Compton because the city has no movie theaters.


13. The film Saving Private Ryan (1998) was so realistic that not only did veterans leave theaters during the opening scene, but visits to PTSD counselors rose and the Department of Veteran Affairs set up a nationwide hotline for veterans affected by this film.


14. Christopher Lee received Tolkien's blessing to play the role of Gandalf if a movie was ever released, but he played Saruman instead. He was also the only person involved with the Lord of the Rings films to have actually met Tolkien himself.


15. Despite increases in computer power, each Shrek movie has taken about twice as many hours to render as the one before it. Dreamworks calls this "Shrek's Law".


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16Ashton Kutcher

Ashton Kutcher

Ashton Kutcher tried Steve Jobs' fruitarian diet when getting into character for the JOBS movie and ended up in the hospital because it messed up his pancreatic levels.


17. The reason Sir Christopher Lee does not speak in the 1966 film "Dracula: Prince of Darkness" is because he thought the lines for Dracula were so appalling that he refused to say them.


18. Teacher John Cisna lost 60lbs eating McDonalds 3 times/day for 6 months as part of a teaching lesson against the movie ‘Super Size Me’, stating “As a teacher, I wouldn't show that movie because there's no value…a guy eats uncontrollable amounts, stops exercising, & the world is surprised he puts on weight?”


19. Stephen King never cashed the $5000 check he received for the rights of turning Shawshank Redemption into a movie. Instead, years after the movie came out, he framed the check and gave it back to Mr. Frank Darabont (Director) with a note: "In case you ever need bail money. Love, Steve".


20. Quentin Tarantino wants to stop making movies after his 10th film. The Hateful Eight was his 8th film.


21The Man From Earth

The Man From Earth

After the 2007 movie "The Man From Earth" was illegally shared via BitTorrent, the producer publicly thanked the file sharers because it "lifted the profile of the film far beyond the financier's expectations."


22. Washington Post's movie critic said Groundhog Day would "never be designated a national film treasure by the Library of Congress." In 2006, the film was designated a national film treasure by the Library of Congress.


23. While filming Hans Gruber's death scene in Die Hard, Alan Rickman was dropped a full second before he expected to fall, resulting in the look of shock present in the film.


24. Steven Spielberg promised Tom Sizemore a role in Saving Private Ryan as long as he never failed a drug test while shooting. If he failed once, even on the last day, Spielberg promised to kick him out of the movie and reshoot all of his scenes with a new actor.


25. WWE Hall of Famer "Rowdy" Roddy Piper broke down in Mickey Rourke's arms after watching a screening of The Wrestler, due to the film's accurate portrayal of the lives many older and independent professional wrestlers live.

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