70 Fun Facts About 1990 Movie

Which film was the highest-grossing movie of 1990 worldwide?

It took about $505 million on a budget of roughly $22 million, and at the time was the third-biggest earner in history.

In Home Alone, Kevin McCallister's family accidentally leaves him behind while flying to which city?

The eight-year-old is left to defend the suburban Chicago house against two burglars, and the film became the highest-grossing live-action comedy for two decades.

Which studio originally planned to finance Home Alone but shut it down over budget before Fox picked it up?

John Hughes had the idea while on holiday, and the film moved to Fox after meetings with the writer-producer, with Chris Columbus and Macaulay Culkin hired soon after.

What was the title of the original, much darker screenplay that became Pretty Woman?

The number referred to the fee for the week; the release title came from a 1964 rock and roll hit instead.

Pretty Woman takes its title from a 1964 song by which singer?

The film made Julia Roberts a superstar, earning her a Golden Globe and her first Oscar nomination.

Goodfellas is adapted from which 1985 nonfiction book by Nicholas Pileggi?

The film was initially going to use the book's title too, and it follows the rise and fall of Mafia associate Henry Hill from 1955 to 1980.

Which Goodfellas actor won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film?

It was the film's only win from six nominations, and much of his dialogue grew out of improvised rehearsals.

Much of the dialogue in Dances With Wolves is spoken in which language, with English subtitles?

The translation was done by Doris Leader Charge of Sinte Gleska University in South Dakota, where much of the film was shot.

From twelve nominations, how many Academy Awards did Dances With Wolves win, including Best Picture?

It is one of only four Westerns ever to win Best Picture, alongside Cimarron, Unforgiven and No Country for Old Men.

Total Recall was shot over six months on huge sets at Estudios Churubusco in which country?

With a budget estimated at $48-80 million it was one of the most expensive films ever made at the time.

Total Recall, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, is based on a short story by which science fiction author?

Ronald Shusett bought the rights to the story back in 1974, and an early attempt at a sequel eventually became Minority Report.

Which horror legend plays the Inventor in Edward Scissorhands, his last film released in his lifetime?

Tim Burton and composer Danny Elfman both call it their most personal and favourite work.

Tim Burton drew Edward Scissorhands from his childhood in which suburban California city?

Caroline Thompson was hired to turn his story into a script during pre-production on Beetlejuice, and the project was fast-tracked after Batman's success.

The turtle costumes in the 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film were built by which effects workshop?

It was one of Jim Henson's last projects; he died shortly after the premiere.

Which small independent acquired the 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film mid-production?

On a $14 million budget it became the highest-grossing independent film up to that time and the ninth-biggest film of the year.

Die Hard 2 traps John McClane at which airport as terrorists seize the air traffic control system?

He must also fight off airport police and a military commander who want nothing to do with his help while planes circle low on fuel.

Who directed Die Hard 2, subtitled Die Harder?

The Finnish director took over from John McTiernan, who had made the original and was busy that year with The Hunt for Red October.

The Hunt for Red October is adapted from a 1984 novel by which author?

Alec Baldwin played CIA analyst Jack Ryan, a role later taken by Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck and Chris Pine.

The Hunt for Red October won a single Academy Award. In which category?

It was also nominated for Best Sound Mixing and Best Film Editing at the 63rd ceremony.

Kindergarten Cop's school scenes were shot on location in which Oregon town?

John Jacob Astor Elementary School stood in for the fictional school; the same town had hosted The Goonies five years earlier.

Kindergarten Cop was Ivan Reitman's second collaboration with Arnold Schwarzenegger. What was the first?

Patrick Swayze was among the actors considered for the undercover-detective role before it went to the action star.

In Misery, which actor plays novelist Paul Sheldon, held captive by his obsessive fan Annie Wilkes?

Kathy Bates was a stage actress largely unknown to film audiences, and her Best Actress win made it the only Stephen King adaptation to win an Oscar.

In Back to the Future Part III, Doc Brown is stranded in which year of the Old West?

Marty goes back to rescue him from Buford 'Mad Dog' Tannen, but Doc complicates things by falling for schoolteacher Clara Clayton.

What title did Coppola and Puzo want for The Godfather Part III before Paramount rejected it?

They saw the third film as an epilogue to a saga already told, and a 2020 recut finally used a version of that title.

Whose casting as Mary Corleone in The Godfather Part III drew accusations of nepotism?

She would later win an Oscar herself, for the Lost in Translation screenplay in 2004.

Who produced, directed and starred in the 1990 comic-strip adaptation Dick Tracy?

Steven Spielberg, John Landis, Walter Hill and Richard Benjamin had all been attached before him, and Madonna played Breathless Mahoney.

Tremors is set in which fictional isolated Nevada desert town?

The subterranean worms are nicknamed Graboids, and the film was shot in Inyo County, California, on a purpose-built desert set.

Which country singer made her acting debut in Tremors?

She plays survivalist Heather Gummer opposite Michael Gross, who went on to appear in every entry of the franchise.

Arachnophobia was the first film produced by which Walt Disney Studios label?

It was also the directorial debut of longtime Spielberg producer Frank Marshall.

The five main characters in Flatliners, who deliberately induce near-death experiences, are what?

The cast included Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts and Kevin Bacon, and Sutherland returned for the 2017 follow-up.

Which star of Days of Thunder co-wrote the film's story with screenwriter Robert Towne?

Real NASCAR drivers including Richard Petty and Rusty Wallace appear, and Hans Zimmer wrote the score.

In Awakenings, Robin Williams's doctor discovers the effects of which drug on catatonic patients?

The story comes from Oliver Sacks's 1973 memoir; the film was nominated for Best Picture and Best Actor for Robert De Niro.

The Rescuers Down Under was the first feature film created entirely digitally, using which Disney system?

It was also the first animated sequel Disney ever released to theatres.

Gremlins 2: The New Batch unleashes the creatures inside a high-tech skyscraper. Where?

Joe Dante returned to direct, and Gizmo again spawns the horde after getting wet.

Which comic-book writer, famous for The Dark Knight Returns, co-wrote the screenplay for RoboCop 2?

He later adapted his original scripts for the sequels into the comic series Frank Miller's RoboCop.

Predator 2 moves the alien hunter from the jungle to the streets of which city?

Set ten years after the original, it stars Danny Glover, with Kevin Peter Hall back in the creature suit.

Sam Raimi created Darkman after Universal turned down his wish to adapt which pulp hero?

He instead built an original character from a short story he wrote as a tribute to Universal's 1930s horror films.

Who stars opposite Tom Hanks in Joe Versus the Volcano, the first of their three films together?

John Patrick Shanley wrote and directed; the film was executive produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment.

Which sitcom star plays Ben Healy, the adoptive father of Junior, in Problem Child?

It was the feature directing debut of Dennis Dugan, later Adam Sandler's regular director.

Who voices baby Julie in Look Who's Talking Too?

Bruce Willis returned as the voice of Mikey, and Amy Heckerling again directed.

Which real-life heavyweight boxer plays Rocky's protégé in Rocky V?

Original director John G. Avildsen returned, and Stallone's son Sage made his film debut as Rocky Jr.

Which filmmaking duo wrote and directed the Prohibition-era gangster film Miller's Crossing?

Tom Reagan plays two rival gangs against each other; the film came between Raising Arizona and Barton Fink.

David Lynch's Wild at Heart is famous for its many allusions to which classic film?

Lynch estimated at least 200 people walked out of early test screenings, and he changed the novel's ending so Sailor and Lula stay together.

John Waters's teen musical Cry-Baby, starring Johnny Depp, is set in which 1950s city?

It was Waters's first film after the death of his muse Divine, and later became a Broadway musical.

House Party stars which hip hop duo, alongside Martin Lawrence and Robin Harris?

Reginald Hudlin directed; both stars are named Christopher.

Jacob's Ladder, with Tim Robbins as a hallucinating Vietnam veteran, heavily influenced which video game series?

Bruce Joel Rubin wrote it a decade before it was filmed, the same year his other script became the year's biggest hit.

Who plays the Grand High Witch in Nicolas Roeg's 1990 adaptation of Roald Dahl's The Witches?

Dahl disliked the changed ending, and it was the last project Jim Henson worked on before his death.

The bank-heist comedy Quick Change is the only directing credit of which comedy star?

He shared the job with Howard Franklin; the robbers escape dressed as a clown and then get hopelessly lost trying to leave the city.

Who won the Best Actor Oscar for playing Claus von Bülow in Reversal of Fortune?

The film is based on defence lawyer Alan Dershowitz's book about the attempted-murder case, with Glenn Close as Sunny.

Which French actor played the title role in the 1990 Cyrano de Bergerac?

The same year he also starred in Green Card, winning a Golden Globe for it.

Mermaids, starring Cher and Winona Ryder, marked the film debut of which future Addams Family star?

Lasse Hallström and Frank Oz both left the project before Richard Benjamin directed it.

Which actress adapted Postcards from the Edge from her own semi-autobiographical novel?

The book grew out of her own experiences of fame and addiction, and she wrote a sequel, The Best Awful, in 2004.

Who plays the ex-girlfriend of Mel Gibson's witness-protection fugitive in Bird on a Wire?

John Badham, who made WarGames and Short Circuit, directed.

In the notorious Troll 2, the goblin-infested town the family visits has what name?

It was shot under the title Goblins and has no connection to 1986's Troll; a 2009 documentary about it was called Best Worst Movie.

Who wrote and directed Nikita (La Femme Nikita), later remade in Hollywood as Point of No Return?

He wrote the part for Anne Parillaud, his partner at the time; the film was also remade in Hong Kong and Bollywood.

The Two Jakes, directed by and starring Jack Nicholson, is the sequel to which 1974 film?

Faye Dunaway returns only as a brief voice-over, and filming took place in the early summer of 1989.

Longtime Companion takes its title from an obituary euphemism used by which newspaper?

Bruce Davison won a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination for his role.

Which author wrote the novel behind Brian De Palma's flop The Bonfire of the Vanities?

Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis and Melanie Griffith starred; the disaster was chronicled in the book The Devil's Candy.

Which lawyer-turned-author wrote the novel behind Presumed Innocent, starring Harrison Ford?

Alan J. Pakula rewrote the script with Frank Pierson before agreeing to direct.

What was William Peter Blatty's 1983 novel, the basis of The Exorcist III, called?

The Gemini Killer was partly modelled on the real Zodiac Killer, and the studio forced a last-minute exorcism climax onto the film.

Which former Cannon Films boss produced the direct-to-video 1990 Captain America film?

Albert Pyun directed, and the film did get a theatrical release in some countries outside the US.

Air America, with Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr. as CIA airline pilots, is set in which country?

It was adapted from Christopher Robbins's 1979 nonfiction book about the real airline.

Who directed Ju Dou, the first Chinese film nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar?

He and Gong Li would follow it with Raise the Red Lantern the next year.

Who hosted the 63rd Academy Awards in March 1991, for the second year in a row?

Geena Davis hosted the separate technical awards ceremony three weeks earlier.

Memphis Belle dramatises the final mission of a real World War II bomber. What type of aircraft was it?

It was co-produced by William Wyler's daughter and dedicated to him; Wyler had made the 1944 documentary about the same plane.

Young Guns II follows which outlaw after the Lincoln County War, narrated by a man who claimed in 1950 to be him?

Emilio Estevez plays the lead, and Jon Bon Jovi's soundtrack single Blaze of Glory was nominated for an Oscar.

Which Australian director wrote and directed Green Card?

He earned an Oscar nomination for the original screenplay, and Andie MacDowell co-starred.

Eric Idle stars in the British comedy Nuns on the Run alongside which actor, later famous as Hagrid?

It was written and directed by Jonathan Lynn, co-creator of Yes Minister, and produced by HandMade Films.

Emilio Estevez starred in his own comedy Men at Work opposite which real-life relative?

The brothers had already worked together on Young Guns two years earlier.

Which actress plays the title role in Woody Allen's 1990 fantasy comedy Alice?

Joe Mantegna and William Hurt co-star; it earned Allen an Oscar nomination for the screenplay.