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32 Little-Known Facts About Hit Movies and TV Shows

November 20, 2023

Now that these movies and TV shows are basically branded into our brains, it’s hard to think of them as anything different. But whether it was a last-minute title change or a zany casting choice (like, say, Nic Cage as Aragorn — for real), these projects could’ve been a lot different. Would we love them the same? Only an alternate timeline will tell!

32

steven spielberg refused a paycheck for schindler's List. The movie being a close and personal project for Spielberg, he refused to take a salary for it. His share of the profits went to the Shoah Foundation, a history archive for the Holocaust and other tragic events. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Toy story 2 was almost deleted. A Pixar employee accidentally typed in a command that erased all the movie files. Thankfully, this multi-million dollar mistake was averted as a technical director on maternity leave had a copy of everything at home. CRACKED.COM — Source

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CRACKED.COM scream was originally titled scary Movie. NO, seriously. When Harvey Weinstein, the producer of the film, was listening to Michael Jackson's Scream in his car, he thought that would be a better title. So two (alleged) sex criminals caused the name change. — Source

29

Bradley cooper spent 6 months to sound like sam Elliott in A star is Born. Cooper worked with a dialect coach for four hours a day - even before Elliott was cast to play his brother. Had Elliott turned down the role, Cooper would've wasted half a year of work. CRACKED.COM — Source

28

CRACKED.COM DO Taxi Driver was written in two weeks. Screenwriter Paul Schrader was going through marriage problems, lost his job, was broke, and suffered a bleeding ulcer. His depression from all this at the same time drove him to write about Travis Bickle, or I was going to start to become him. — Source

27

The house in Up was lifted by 10,297 balloons. While Up is a cartoon and Carl's house was lifted by the power of imagination and computer animation, Pixar animators still painstakingly created over 10,000 colorful balloons to do it. CRACKED.COM — Source

26

are I 178 ARO G BENAL SKY + T R ..... CLA T TRA I Rd 57 M 37 UHT I S الله I REDY E EF S the X EG SH T 123RF SMX I H XII you E E DE : GA SOS II T N - I i 0 I II I 3 La I SUN LMFG G U Ro URT # I DO U of E B PM I IDE S 1 9 0 : R I E g ПЕЛ AS : A S C g City ave - LES I I N C N at 2 — Source

25

CRACKED.COM christian Bale's American Psycho was based on Tom cruise. Bale called up director Mary Harron, saying that he saw Tom Cruise on David Letterman and thought that energy would be perfect for Patrick Bateman, citing Cruise's very intense friendliness with nothing behind the eyes. — Source

24

CRACKED.COM In The wizard of OZ, Toto made more money than the Munchkins. Hollywood has never been fair, but it's mind-boggling that the actors portraying the Munchkins were paid $50 per week, while Toto and his trainers got $125 per week. — Source

23

The wallet in Pulp Fiction was owned by Quentin Tarantino. Jules' profanity-enhanced wallet wasn't a prop. Tarantino had it as his own personal wallet. Не owned it as a reference to the movie Shaft. BAO MOTH R CRACKED.COM — Source

22

Bridget Jones’ Diary

BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY TONI COLLETTE AND KATE WINSLET WERE UP FOR THE LEAD ROLE. After Colette turned it down, Winslet was considered but producers thought she was too young. It ultimately went to Renée Zellweger. CRACKED.COM — Source

21

CRACKED.COM COLLEGE ANIMAL HOUSE THE STORY WAS ORIGINALLY ABOUT CHARLES MANSON. The first draft of the screenplay focused on the cult leader, the sex, and the murders involved. It was immediately rejected. — Source

20

CRACKED.COM RANGO THE MOVIE WAS SHOT IN LIVE ACTION FIRST. In order to get more natural performances and body language in the animation, Gore Verbinski had the actors perform in person to capture their movements. — Source

19

Made DO THE RIGHT THING SPIKE LEE WROTE THE SCREENPLAY IN TWO WEEKS. I'd wake up in the morning and write for three or four hours, then I'd quit, carry on with the rest of the day, and come back the next morning. The movie was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. CRACKED.COM — Source

18

The Wedding Singer

CRACKED.COM THE WEDDING SINGER ADAM SANDLER WANTED TO MAKE A PRO-MARRIAGE MOVIE. Sandler said that he just wanted to make a movie that was pro-love and pro-marriage while still being heavy on the laughs. According to him, guys who are against love were just hurt. — Source

17

CRACKED.COM UNFORGIVEN THE SCRIPT HAD BEEN AROUND SINCE 1976. David Webb Peoples had been writing scripts on the side while working as an editor in the 1970s. but the screenplay didn't get picked up until the early 1990s. Probably because one of the original titles was The Cut-Whore Killings. — Source

16

CITY SLICKERS CHARLES BRONSON WAS OFFERED THE ROLE OF CURLY (AND WAS PISSED). Upon finding out his character died midway through the movie, Bronson cursed out Billy Crystal and turned the part down. Then Jack Palance went on to win an Oscar for it. CRACKED.COM — Source

15

CRACKED.COM THE MASK OF ZORRO RAUL JULIA WAS GOING TO PLAY THE ELDER ZORRO. Julia was the first pick to play Don Diego de la Vega, but he unfortunately passed before filming and the role went to Anthony Hopkins. — Source

14

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE THE MOVIE WAS INSPIRED BY ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (BUT NOT IN A GOOD WAY). Screenwriter Michael Arndt read an article about Schwarzenegger telling high school students, If there's one thing ... that I hate, it's losers. Arndt hated that mindset, and wrote a movie about that. CRACKED.COM — Source

13

Israelis don't relate to meatballs the way Americans do, so when Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs was translated into Hebrew it was changed to It's Raining Falafel. 0707 ОШЯ 7Ш 70X70 AUTIF حدو 3D 7n'n LICENSE DI CRACKED.COM — Source

12

CRACKED.COM The people mentioned by Inigo Montoya and the Man in Black during their sword fight in The Princess Bride are actual Renaissance-era fencing masters. — Source

11

CRACKED.COM In the first drafts of 2001: A Space Odyssey HAL was named ATHENA and had a female voice. — Source

10

In international releases of Cars 2, Jeff Gorvette is replaced in one scene by a unique car representing that country. Max Schnell Germany Carla Veloso Brazil Raoul ÇaRoule France CRACKED.COM — Source

9

TERMINATOR 2 JUDGMENT DAY Robert Patrick got the part of the T-1000 because Billy Idol, who was James Cameron's first choice, had recently broken his leg in a motorcycle accident, and would not be physically up to the demands of the role. CRACKED.COM — Source

8

Mace Windu's lightsaber is purple so Samuel L. Jackson could find himself in the Episode II arena battle. Jackson said, Well S***, I wanna be able to find myself in this big ol' scene. So he asked for a purple lightsaber. George Lucas told him lightsabers don't come in purple, but Jackson said, Yeah, but I want a purple one. I'm like the second baddest Jedi in the universe next to Yoda. CRACKED.COM — Source

7

CRACKED.COM A DECADE SPENT USING A CRUTCH FOR THE ROLE OF DR. KERRY WEAVER LEFT LAURA INNES WITH REAL-LIFE SPINE CURVATURE. — Source

6

In the casino scene in Black Panther, the colors of the outfits worn by T'challa, Okoye, and Nakia collectively form... The colors found on the Pan-African Flag. CRACKED.COM — Source

5

The equations on the background in (4) Solhi The Big Bang Ing ٤٥٦٤ 500 & والدف Theory are 194 with of mathematically a accurate. TVV.c. have shyhns) M=X Y Y Medach PLUR DEVOC Y:Beic DC-DC-TOO /Y1 DS.DC.O V/v =-2 Рыш = 1973 sample Y/T David e Saltzberg, a professor at UCLA studying particle physics, works as the science consultant on the show. CRACKED.COM — Source

4

Hugh Jackman says he owes his career to Russell Crowe. Crowe passed on the role of Wolverine, and then recommended his friend Hugh for the job, which eventually made him a household name. CRACKED.COM — Source

3

An actress was originally supposed to be cast to play the part of Maris Crane, however, after only 3 episodes they had described her physical appearance as so bizarre that she had practically become uncastable. ? FRASIER GRACKED.COM — Source

2

The relationship between Ed Wood and Bela Lugosi CRACKED.COM in Tim Burton's was a reflection of Burton's own relationship with Vincent Price. — Source

1

The role that made Viggo Mortensen's career, Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, almost went to Nicolas Cage. CRACKED.COM — Source

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