50 Fun Facts About Summer Blockbuster

The word "blockbuster" entered the American press in the early 1940s. What did it originally describe?

The name referred to munitions that could level a whole city block, and by 1943 studio ads were borrowing it for action pictures.

The first known use of "block-buster" to describe a film came in 1943 ads for which RKO war picture?

Variety and Motion Picture Herald called it "the block-buster of all action-thrill-service shows," three decades before Jaws made the word a genre.

Which 1973 George Lucas hit is credited with helping birth the summer blockbuster before Jaws?

Made for $777,000, it became one of the most profitable films of all time and gave Lucas the leverage to make his space saga.

Jaws was adapted from a 1974 bestselling novel by which author?

The author shares screenplay credit with Carl Gottlieb and has a cameo in the film as a TV reporter on the beach.

Jaws was shot mostly on location on which island, standing in for the fictional Amity?

The shoot ran from May to October 1974, far longer than planned, as the ocean and the props kept fighting back.

The crew nicknamed the mechanical sharks in Jaws "Bruce." Who was the namesake?

Three full-size pneumatic sharks were built, and their constant breakdowns pushed the director to hide the fish for most of the film.

Principal photography on Jaws was scheduled for 55 days. How many days did it actually take?

The budget nearly tripled from the original $3.5 million estimate to $9 million along the way.

On how many screens did Jaws open across North America on June 20, 1975?

Universal chairman Lew Wasserman had actually cut the plan down from as many as 900 theaters after seeing a preview.

Universal spent an unprecedented sum on national television spots for Jaws. How much?

About two dozen 30-second ads aired each night on prime-time network TV in the two days before opening, a tactic almost unheard of at the time.

On top of his salary for Star Wars (1977), Alec Guinness received what share of the film's backend grosses?

The deal made him wealthy later in life, even though he was famously unimpressed by the dialogue.

George Lucas based Chewbacca on his own dog, Indiana. What breed was she?

The dog's name would be borrowed again a few years later for a certain whip-carrying archaeologist.

What subtitle was added to the original Star Wars when it was reissued in 1981?

The film had opened in 1977 with no episode number at all; the renumbering came once the sequels were underway.

Which candy company refused to let its product appear in E.T. (1982)?

Hershey said yes to Reese's Pieces instead, and the trail of candy that lures E.T. became one of the most famous product placements ever.

Who wrote the screenplay for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial?

Her first draft, titled E.T. and Me, was written in eight weeks.

E.T. earned nine Oscar nominations but lost Best Picture to which film?

The winning film's director, Richard Attenborough, later said he was certain E.T. not only would win, but should have.

E.T.'s face was inspired by Albert Einstein, Ernest Hemingway and which American poet?

The creature's raspy voice came mostly from Pat Welsh, an elderly woman with a two-packs-a-day smoking habit.

Tom Selleck was first choice for Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark but was tied to which TV series?

Producers ended up gathering somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 snakes in a few days for the Well of Souls scene he never got to film.

Ghostbusters opened at number one on June 8, 1984, ahead of which same-weekend horror-comedy?

Both were produced on a rush: Ghostbusters went from greenlight to release in about 13 months.

According to Dan Aykroyd, which Ghostbusters role was originally intended for Eddie Murphy?

Aykroyd's first draft was set in the future with many teams of intergalactic ghost-hunters and was written with John Belushi in mind.

The real Ghostbusters firehouse, Hook & Ladder Company 8, is in which Manhattan neighborhood?

It is still a working FDNY firehouse and a stop on many New York movie tours.

Whose theme song for Ghostbusters went to number one on the charts?

The film itself finished as the second-highest-grossing release of 1984 in the US and Canada and was, for a time, the highest-grossing comedy ever.

Who was originally cast as Marty McFly in Back to the Future and fired in January 1985?

Michael J. Fox then shot the film at night while filming Family Ties by day, and the release date was pulled forward to July 3 after strong test screenings.

Why was 88 mph chosen as the time-travel speed in Back to the Future?

The DeLorean itself was picked because it offered mobility and a unique look; an early draft used a refrigerator.

Which song did Huey Lewis and the News contribute to Back to the Future?

Lewis had agreed to hand over the next song he wrote, and it became the band's first US number one; he also cameos as the teacher who rejects Marty's band.

Top Gun (1986) was inspired by an article titled "Top Guns" published in which magazine?

Producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer optioned the story; the Navy later set up recruiting booths in some theaters showing the film.

In Top Gun, Maverick and Goose fly which Navy fighter?

The film cost about $15 million and grossed $177 million to finish as the top domestic release of 1986.

How many protest letters did fans reportedly send over Michael Keaton's casting in Batman (1989)?

The furor did nothing to slow the film, which grossed $40.49 million in its opening weekend and reached $100 million faster than any film before it.

Jack Nicholson cut his usual $10 million fee to $6 million to play the Joker in exchange for what?

The deal is thought to have paid him well over $50 million, and he demanded top billing on the posters anyway.

Which rock singer lost the T-1000 role in Terminator 2 after a motorcycle crash?

Robert Patrick won the part by auditioning as an emotionless hunter; the liquid-metal effects took a team of up to 35 people at ILM for about five minutes of screen time.

Carolco paid most of Arnold Schwarzenegger's salary for Terminator 2 in what form?

The financed Gulfstream III was valued at $12.75 million, on a film whose budget of roughly $100 million made it the most expensive ever at the time.

Jurassic Park (1993) was based on a 1990 novel by which writer?

The same author had earlier written and directed Westworld, another story about a theme park whose attractions turn on the guests.

Which storm passed directly over Kauai while Jurassic Park was filming there in September 1992?

The cast and crew rode it out in a hotel ballroom, and some storm footage ended up in the finished film.

Spielberg invested in which digital surround-sound company, whose format debuted with Jurassic Park?

The film went on to gross over $914 million worldwide and take three Oscars, all technical.

Why did the US military pull its support from Independence Day (1996)?

The film became the top earner of 1996 anyway, passing Twister and Mission: Impossible, and won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects.

In Independence Day, Harry Connick Jr.'s pilot Jimmy Wilder was a role first given to which actor?

Bill Pullman's presidential speech got its final line, "Today, we celebrate our Independence Day!", added just before the scene was shot.

Men in Black (1997) won a single Academy Award. In which category?

Rick Baker and David LeRoy Anderson took the statue; the film grossed more than $589 million worldwide.

Which similarly themed disaster film opened weeks before Armageddon in summer 1998?

Michael Bay's version won the box-office race, finishing as the highest-grossing film of 1998 on a $140 million budget that was Disney's biggest yet.

Which May 2002 release became the first film ever to gross $100 million in a single weekend?

Sam Raimi's film went on to $826 million worldwide, and its upside-down kiss in the rain became the decade's most imitated movie moment.

Johnny Depp based his performance as Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean (2003) on which musician?

Depp reasoned that 18th-century pirates were the rock stars of their day; the role earned him a Best Actor nomination for a film based on a theme-park ride.

The Dark Knight (2008) was the first major motion picture to shoot sequences with what?

Its $158.4 million opening weekend broke the record at the time, and it went on to pass $1 billion worldwide.

Who replaced Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes in The Dark Knight?

Holmes chose to make the crime comedy Mad Money instead; Heath Ledger's Joker won a posthumous Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

Mark Ruffalo played Bruce Banner in The Avengers (2012) after Marvel declined to bring back which actor?

The film grossed over $1.5 billion, then the third-highest total ever, and was retitled Marvel Avengers Assemble in the UK and Ireland.

What is the exhausted team silently eating in The Avengers' second post-credits scene?

Tony Stark suggests the meal during the battle; the scene was filmed the day after the Hollywood premiere and added for the US release.

Which studio, his home for nearly two decades, did Nolan leave before Oppenheimer?

The split put his film head-to-head with his old studio's Barbie on July 21, 2023, and Barbie ended up passing his own The Dark Knight as that studio's biggest domestic release.

Barbie's only Academy Award win came for which song?

Billie Eilish's ballad won; Ryan Gosling's power ballad was nominated in the same category and lost to it.

Barbie's sets used up the entire remaining stock of one shade of pink paint from which manufacturer?

COVID-era supply problems made the shortage worse, and the film went on to $1.448 billion, the biggest gross of 2023.

Which streaming service tried during the pandemic to buy the distribution rights to Top Gun: Maverick, and was refused?

Tom Cruise held out for a theatrical release, and the film became the first of his career to open above $100 million.

How much per flight hour did Top Gun: Maverick pay the Navy to put actors in real Super Hornets?

Val Kilmer, by then cancer-free, had campaigned on Facebook to reprise Iceman, and the film premiered at Cannes to a five-minute standing ovation.

Which of these is one of the four new emotions that arrive in Inside Out 2 (2024)?

The newcomers show up as 13-year-old Riley heads for high school, and the film went on to gross $1.699 billion, the most of any 2024 release.

Who voices Anxiety in Inside Out 2?

Kelsey Mann directed the sequel, which opened to $154.2 million domestically and briefly held the record for highest-grossing animated film ever.