50 Fun Facts About True Lies

Who wrote and directed True Lies?

It was the first film released under his multimillion-dollar Lightstorm Entertainment deal with 20th Century Fox.

True Lies is a remake of a 1991 comedy from which country?

The original, La Totale!, starred Thierry Lhermitte as a spy nicknamed 'The Sword' whose family thinks he works in telecommunications.

Harry Tasker's family believes he sells what for a living?

In the French original the hero's cover job was as a telecommunications employee.

What is the name of the top-secret counterterrorism agency Harry really works for?

Its director, Spencer Trilby, is played by a Hollywood veteran wearing an eyepatch.

The terrorist group Harry is chasing goes by what name?

Its leader Salim Abu Aziz meets his end strapped to a missile that Harry fires from a jet.

Who plays Harry's wisecracking partner Albert 'Gib' Gibson?

He was nominated for Best Comedic Performance at the MTV Movie Awards, and returned as a retired Omega operative in the 2023 TV series.

Which actor plays Simon, the used-car salesman who pretends to be a spy to seduce women?

Critic Kenneth Turan objected to how much pleasure the film takes in humiliating him; the character returns as a waiter in the final scene.

Who plays Juno Skinner, the art dealer secretly working for the terrorists?

Her tango with Harry earned an MTV Movie Award nomination for Best Dance Sequence.

Which British actor plays terrorist leader Salim Abu Aziz?

He said he was drawn by the script's 'pantomime quality', and later linked the sequel's cancellation to how differently terrorism was seen after 9/11.

Which future Buffy and Dollhouse star plays the Taskers' teenage daughter Dana?

She was twelve during filming and in 2018 alleged she had been molested on set by the stunt coordinator, which he denies.

Which Hollywood legend plays the agency's eyepatched director, Spencer Trilby?

In the 2023 series the director became Susan Trilby, played by Beverly D'Angelo.

Harry's colleague Faisil is played by which actor, later an Oscar-winning producer of Argo?

In the finale Faisil talks his way into the skyscraper by posing as a news cameraman.

The opening party Harry infiltrates in a tuxedo is set in which country?

The 'Swiss' chalet exterior is really Ochre Court, and the ballroom is a nearby Gilded Age mansion; neither is anywhere near the Alps.

The Gilded Age mansion whose ballroom hosts the opening tango is in which US city?

Rosecliff's ballroom has also stood in for the 1974 Great Gatsby, High Society and Amistad.

The tango Harry dances at the party, 'Por una Cabeza', was composed by which Argentine legend?

The same 1935 tango turns up in Scent of a Woman and the opening of Schindler's List; it entered the public domain in 2006.

What family occasion does Harry miss because he is chasing Aziz through the city?

The French original opens the same way, with the spy hero missing the surprise party for his 40th birthday.

Harry suspects Helen of an affair after overhearing her arrange to meet a man with what first name?

The man turns out to sell used cars and to have used the fake-spy routine on other bored wives.

During the staged 'mission', Helen is sent to a hotel room to seduce a stranger and do what?

The stranger is Harry in silhouette; the real terrorists then burst in and capture them both.

The terrorists fly Harry and Helen to an island in which chain off the southern tip of the state?

The smugglers' base was built from custom Alaska Structures fabric buildings leased to the production.

How many nuclear warheads has Juno smuggled into the country inside fake antique statues?

One is detonated on an uninhabited island as a demonstration, and the last is aimed at Miami.

The demonstration warhead's timer is set for how many minutes?

It goes off on the island without killing anyone while Harry is dangling from a helicopter over the bridge.

Marine jump jets blow up part of which real Overseas Highway span to stop the terrorists' convoy?

The old span had already been replaced by a new bridge in 1982, which is why the film could destroy a piece of it.

Which vertical-takeoff jet does Harry commandeer for the finale?

The MTV Movie Awards nominated the bridge explosion and limo rescue for Best Action Sequence.

In the finale, Aziz chases Dana onto what structure on the roof of a Miami skyscraper?

Dana had stolen the missile-control key and fled to the roof before Harry arrived in the jet.

The final scene, set a year later, ends with Harry and Helen doing what?

By then Helen is a full Omega agent, and Gib is begging them to take the job seriously.

True Lies was the first film ever to have a production budget above what figure?

Estimates run from $100 million to $120 million, and it was shot over a seven-month schedule.

True Lies was the first major project for which visual effects company co-founded by Cameron?

Cameron founded it in 1993 with Stan Winston and Scott Ross; it went on to Titanic and Apollo 13.

Schwarzenegger said a camera boom spooked his horse right beside a drop of roughly what height?

He slid off and a stuntman caught him, which is 'why I will always love stunt people'.

Which future Titanic and Avatar producer did Cameron meet as the Fox 'suit' on True Lies?

He left Fox soon after to join Cameron's company Lightstorm.

Who composed the score, as he had for The Terminator and Terminator 2?

It was also the first film to open with the 1994 Fox fanfare arranged and conducted by Bruce Broughton.

Which Sade song appears in the film but was left off the soundtrack album?

The Bee Gees' 'More Than a Woman' and 'The Blue Danube' were also used but not released on the album.

Which film did True Lies knock off the top of the US box office on its opening weekend?

The Tom Hanks film retook first place a week later, and both it and The Lion King out-grossed True Lies for the year.

Roughly how much did True Lies gross worldwide?

That made it the third-highest-grossing film of 1994; it was number one in Japan for twelve straight weeks.

True Lies became the highest-grossing Hollywood film ever in which country, its second US release since The Fugitive?

It also set opening-weekend records in South Korea and Japan and became the biggest film of all time in the Philippines.

Jamie Lee Curtis won which major award for playing Helen?

She also won the Saturn Award and the American Comedy Award for the role, and was nominated by the Screen Actors Guild.

The film's only Academy Award nomination came in which category?

It lost to the year's Best Picture winner; the same team won the Saturn Award for Best Special Effects.

Which country banned True Lies from cinemas in October 1994 over its portrayal of Muslims?

Officials there had banned Schindler's List earlier the same year for violence and nudity.

A Paris court ruled in 2004 that True Lies' story was plagiarised from an unproduced 1981 screenplay by whom?

The judgment fell on the French director of La Totale!, who was ordered to pay $15 million; Cameron was cleared as a good-faith buyer of the rights.

Who directed La Totale!, the French film True Lies remade?

His version ends with the hero's 41st birthday and a plot to blow up a Paris football stadium.

Cameron ultimately said the planned True Lies 2 would not be made because of which event?

A script by Jeff Eastin had been completed by 2001; Curtis later said 'terrorists aren't funny anymore'.

Acclaim's True Lies game came out for SNES, Game Boy, Game Gear and which other system?

It was a top-down run-and-gun developed by Beam Software, with the console and handheld versions quite different from each other.

The 2023 True Lies television series aired on which US network?

Steve Howey and Ginger Gonzaga played the Taskers; it was cancelled after one season in May 2023.

Which Burn Notice creator wrote the 2023 series pilot?

Cameron executive-produced through Lightstorm, and Anthony Hemingway replaced McG as director of the pilot.

The 1995 LaserDisc of True Lies was only the second release to carry which audio format?

Clear and Present Danger beat it to the punch; the 2024 4K release was criticised for its AI upscaling.

In which year did True Lies finally arrive on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD?

Cameron said in 2018 that a new transfer existed but he had not found time to review it; Disney finally released it in March 2024.

The closing ballroom scene and "Hotel Marquis" lobby were shot in the Crystal Ballroom of which Los Angeles hotel?

The hotel in the story is meant to be in Washington, D.C.

Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave True Lies what grade?

Critics were warmer than they had been to Last Action Hero a year earlier; Roger Ebert gave it three stars out of four.

Where did True Lies rank among the highest-grossing films of 1994 worldwide?

It earned about $378 million, behind only The Lion King and Forrest Gump that year.

Which Newport mansion stood in for the Swiss chalet Harry infiltrates in the opening?

The ballroom tango inside was filmed at Rosecliff, while the closing dance used the Millennium Biltmore in Los Angeles.

In the 2005 comedy The Kid & I, Tom Arnold's character tries to make a True Lies sequel with whom?

Schwarzenegger and Curtis appear as themselves; Cameron said in 2009 there were no plans for a real sequel.