50 Fun Facts About Christine Trivia (Stephen King's Killer Car)

Christine is what make and model of car?

Only 5,303 were built, and the real ones came in just one colour, so the film's fleet was padded out with Plymouth Belvederes and Savoys.

Stephen King has said the idea for Christine came to him when he watched what happen on his own car?

That gave him the notion of an odometer that ran backwards, making the car younger instead of older.

Arnie, the bullied teenager who buys Christine, has what surname?

His full name is Arnold; his acne clears up and his confidence grows as he restores the car, along with a nastier streak borrowed from its previous owner.

In the novel, how much does Arnie pay for Christine?

Dennis lists the damaged engine block, cracked windscreen and flat tyres, and the backwards odometer, and Arnie buys her anyway.

The novel is set in Libertyville, a fictional suburb of which city?

The film moved the story to Rockbridge, California, and shot largely around Los Angeles.

What is the name of Christine's bitter original owner, whose spirit possesses the car in the novel?

He wears a back brace, and as Arnie takes on his personality he ends up in a back brace too. In the film it is his brother George who sells the car.

In the novel, how did LeBay's young daughter die?

His wife then killed herself in the front seat by carbon-monoxide poisoning; the film makes the child a five-year-old niece and has both brother and sister-in-law die by suicide.

Arnie restores Christine at a do-it-yourself garage run by which small-time crook?

In the novel he uses Arnie as a courier for his smuggling; in the film Christine crushes him against the steering wheel.

Arnie's girlfriend Leigh, the pretty new student who comes to see Christine as a rival, has what surname?

After nearly choking to death during a date in the car she vows never to get into Christine again.

Which bully, expelled from school and blaming Arnie, leads the gang that vandalises Christine?

His first name is Clarence; Christine kills him and all but one of his gang in the novel, and the last one four years later, in Los Angeles.

What is the name of the state police detective who suspects Arnie?

He is run off the road and killed in the novel; the film lets him survive to watch Christine crushed into a cube.

In the novel, what do Dennis and Leigh use to batter Christine to pieces?

The film swapped it for heavier machinery; in both versions the wreck is then crushed, and in the novel one of the officers feeding it in says 'it bit him'.

How does Arnie die in the novel?

Witnesses suggested LeBay's spirit tried to possess him and Arnie fought back, causing the wreck. The film kills him on a shard of windshield glass instead.

Where did the ALA rank Christine on its list of most challenged books of 1990-1999?

Reviewers were lukewarm too: Kirkus called it over-long but 'popcorn-readable' and the New York Times found the dialogue 'phony and manipulative'.

Which director made the 1983 film of Christine?

He took it as 'a job' after The Thing flopped, and later admitted he did not find the book very frightening.

Which 1979 Stephen King miniseries had Richard Kobritz produced, leading King to send him Christine?

King sent him two manuscripts, Cujo and Christine; Kobritz bought Christine for its 'celebration of America's obsession with the motorcar'.

Who plays Arnie in the film?

He had been in Jaws 2 and later became a director, with episodes of Dexter, Homeland, Fargo and Better Call Saul to his name.

Which actor auditioned for the film but dropped out when he was offered the lead in Footloose?

The studio had wanted TV star Scott Baio as Arnie; the filmmakers chose relative unknowns instead.

Columbia wanted which star of The Blue Lagoon for the role of Leigh?

The part went to 19-year-old Alexandra Paul, who had never read a King novel or seen one of the director's films.

Alexandra Paul, who plays Leigh, later spent five seasons on which TV series?

She played lifeguard Stephanie Holden from 1992 to 1997.

Alexandra Paul's identical twin sister Caroline once did what during filming?

The director was not told until after he had shot it; Caroline later wrote that her 'highly skilled clutch-pushing actually made it into the movie'.

John Stockwell, who plays Dennis, later appeared as which pilot in Top Gun?

He went on to direct Blue Crush, Into the Blue and Turistas.

Which veteran character actor plays the state police detective in the film?

He had just played Brain in Escape from New York for the same director and would make Repo Man the following year.

Roberts Blossom (George LeBay) is best remembered as which scary neighbour in a 1990 comedy?

He also appeared in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Escape from Alcatraz.

Who plays the gruff owner of the garage where Arnie rebuilds the car?

A stage veteran, he became a familiar 1980s face through Thief, The Natural and Broadcast News.

The film's opening scene shows Christine's malevolence begin where?

The hood slams on a worker's hand and another man is found dead inside after dropping cigar ash on the seat. The novel instead blames LeBay's spirit.

Where does Leigh nearly choke to death in the film?

Christine locks the doors to keep Arnie from helping; a passing theatre-goer performs the Heimlich manoeuvre.

Which song plays on Christine's radio as Arnie dies in the film?

It was recorded by Johnny Ace, who died on Christmas Day 1954 after accidentally shooting himself backstage in Houston.

Which George Thorogood song, released in 1982, became forever associated with Christine after the film?

The soundtrack LP was released on Motown Records and also included Buddy Holly, Little Richard and Dion.

Who co-wrote the film's electronic score with the director?

The pair also scored Escape from New York, Halloween II and Halloween III together.

How many cars did the production buy through classified ads to build the film's Christines?

Seventeen copies of the car were built and 23 were used; the leftovers were sold as scrap, and one rescued survivor now belongs to a Florida collector.

The famous scenes of Christine repairing herself were achieved how?

Special-effects supervisor Roy Arbogast got three weeks to work it out and stripped one car of its engine to fit the rig.

Stunt coordinator Terry Leonard drove Christine down the highway engulfed in flames wearing what?

He also drove the car in the high-speed chase scenes.

Real examples of Christine's model came only in which colour?

With a Buckskin Beige interior. King's novel explains the red-and-white car as a custom order, and radio ads for the film even called her a '57.

Filming began in April 1983, how long after the novel was published?

The film was in cinemas by 9 December, eight months after the book.

Roughly how much did Christine gross at the North American box office?

It opened fourth with $3.4 million from 1,045 theatres and has since become a cult classic.

Roger Ebert said audiences take sides during Christine's duel with what?

He suggested viewers would 'walk out with a silly grin, get in your car, and lay rubber halfway down the Eisenhower'.

In 2003 Stephen King named Christine and which other adaptation of his work as having bored him?

He said he would 'rather have bad than boring'.

Which company was announced in June 2021 as developing a Christine remake with Bryan Fuller?

Sony was attached alongside Jason Blum, Vincenzo Natali and Steve Hoban; as of 2023 nothing had moved forward.

Which 2002 Stephen King novel about a mysterious car has been called a return to Christine's territory?

King's 1973 short story Trucks, about homicidal lorries, was an even earlier take on murderous machines.

Which director called his 2022 film Halloween Ends 'a love letter to Christine'?

A 2004 Bollywood film, Taarzan: The Wonder Car, is loosely based on the same story.

The film's 1978 story is set at a high school in which fictional California town?

Arnie is bullied there on the first day of school by Buddy Repperton, who is expelled for carrying a switchblade.

What does Dennis lose for good after being distracted by Arnie and Leigh kissing beside Christine?

He is stunned mid-game by the sight of his friend with the restored car and never plays again.

How does Christine kill garage owner Will Darnell?

She returns from killing Buddy's gang still in flames, then is spotless again by the time police find the body the next morning.

Which two projects initially made John Carpenter unavailable to direct Christine?

Delays on both freed him up; he later admitted he took Christine as 'a job' after The Thing flopped, calling the book not very frightening.

Which Happy Days star did Columbia want to play Arnie before the filmmakers chose unknowns?

The studio also pushed Brooke Shields for Leigh; Keith Gordon, known from Jaws 2, won the role after a New York audition.

How many copies of the film car were built from the two dozen Plymouths the production bought?

Belvederes and Savoys stood in for the rare Fury, of which only 5,303 were ever built; every one used was a two-door hardtop.

How much did Christine gross in its opening weekend, landing at number four?

Released to 1,045 theatres on December 9, 1983, it lingered seven weekends and finished with just over $21 million.

The soundtrack album of songs from the film was released on which record label?

It carried ten of the fifteen credited songs plus one Carpenter and Alan Howarth score cue, 'Christine Attacks (Plymouth Fury)'.

Which 2004 Bollywood film about a car is loosely based on Christine?

Made by the duo Abbas–Mustan, it was followed in 2018 by the Telugu film Taxiwaala, which shares a similar premise.