Movie Trivia – Interesting Movie Facts

I love movie trivia and interesting movie facts. In fact, I’ll pretty much buy any kind of game that allows me to show off my cinematic expertise to friends and family. And when I’m not doing that, I’m often hanging out on Wikipedia and reading random pages devoted to performers and their projects. Yes, I have no real life to speak of, but my loss is your gain.

Just check out this list of interesting movie facts put together by yours truly. There are 20 bits of goodness included below, and any one of them should be enough to win you a bar bet or make you the undisputed king of geeks at your next party.

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Check back in the future, as we’ll have even more articles devoted to movie trivia. Until then, browse around the site and read the hundreds of articles we’re written on the subject of film.

• Originally, Paul Newman was supposed to play The Sundance Kid, and Robert Redford was scheduled to co-star as Butch Cassidy. The roles were eventually switched, and the film went on to be a major success.
• Nicolas Cage once defeated Leonardo DiCaprio in a bidding contest for the skull of a dinosaur. Cage’s winning bid was $276,000.
• Jackie Chan’s all-time favorite actor is French star Jean-Paul Belmondo (Breathless).
• Sylvester Stallone tore his pectoral muscle while training for Rocky II and needed more than 160 stitches.
• The role of the janitor in The Breakfast Club was originally supposed to be filled by Rick Moranis, but he left after creative differences with director John Hughes.
• Over one million feet of film was used during the production of The 40 Year Old Virgin, a rare accomplishment. On the final day of shooting, the company that provided the film stock sent the cast and crew free champagne to celebrate their milestone.

• During the scene from The Hangover where the main characters were forced to take part in a Taser demonstration, director Todd Phillips kept trying to convince the actors to allow him to use a real Taser. This idea was put to rest when the lawyers for Warner Bros. stepped in and put their foot down.
• Because of the physical changes in the character of Jacob Black between Twilight and New Moon, the producers briefly considered replacing Taylor Lautner with an actor who could portray “the new, larger Jacob Black.” Lautner hit the weights and put on thirty pounds of muscle, this allowing him to keep the role in The Twilight Saga: New Moon.
• After Chris Pine was cast as Captain Kirk in Star Trek reboot, he sent a letter to William Shatner. In a reply letter, Shatner gave his blessing.
• After shooting for Zombieland had wrapped, Woody Harrelson got into a physical altercation with a member of the paparazzi in New York City. Harrelson excused his behavior by saying that he was still in character and believed the photographer to be a zombie.
• In Point Break, FBI agent Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves) is following possible bank robber Bodie (Patrick Swayze) around town. At one point, the suspect heads into a business called Patrick’s Roadhouse. Swayze, of course, starred in Road House in 1989.
• Following the release of Psycho, director Alfred Hitchcock received an angry letter from the father of a young girl. After seeing 1954’s Diabolique, she refused to take a bath. Now, a few years later, she refused to shower after watching Psycho. Hitchcock’s reply simply stated “Send her to the dry cleaners.”
• Red Dawn was the first film to be given a PG-13 rating. In fact, The Guinness Book of Records once considered it to be the most violent film ever made, with an act of violence occurring every 2.23 minutes (for a rate of 134 per hour).

• In Aliens, the character of Hudson (Bill Paxton) refers to fellow Colonial Marine Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein) by saying, “She thought they said ‘illegal aliens’ and signed up.” This was actually something of an inside joke among the cast, as Goldstein, confused by the title into thinking Aliens was about the immigration issue, showed up at auditions with make-up, high heels, and a short skirt. Everyone else was dressed in military fatigues.
• To prepare for his role in Down and Out in Beverly Hills, actor Nick Nolte spent five weeks doing intensive research on the experiences of homeless people, even spending periods living on the streets of Los Angeles. This film was also the first R-rated movie released by Disney.
• Mel Brooks was the executive producer of The Elephant Man. Fearing people would get the wrong idea if they saw his name, his had it left off of the credits.
• When it was announced that Gone with the Wind was going to be made into a movie, a large section of the public demanded that Bette Davis be given the role of Scarlett O’Hara. Davis did receive a screen test for the part, and the footage exists to this day.
• Dolph Lundgren, star of The Expendables and Rocky IV, speaks English, Swedish, French, German, Spanish, and some Italian and Japanese. He also holds a master’s degree in chemical engineering.
• Sean Connery wore a toupee in every James Bond movie that he appeared in.
• When actress Lainie Kazan posed for Playboy in 1970, her look inspired the look of DC Comic superhero Big Barda.

If you’re still in the mood for movie trivia, be sure to check out these previous articles from OGM:

• Interesting Movie Facts
• Interesting Movie Facts 4: The Revenge
• 75 Actor Height Facts

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