Telling the story of Hollywood one movie at a time. Behind-the-scenes stories sourced direct from cast/crew or 3+ verified sources. Podcast + daily posts. 🎬
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Jul 24 • 38 tweets • 25 min read
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN was released 27 years ago today. Acclaimed as one of the most realistic depictions of WWII warfare, and among Steven Spielberg’s most popular films, the making of story is enormous. Earn this…
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In 1994, writer Robert Rodat received a gift from his wife: Stephen Ambrose’s D-Day June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II. He was interested in writing a script and, visiting Tonawanda cemetery in New York, came across a monument that inspired him further.
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Jul 23 • 46 tweets • 31 min read
DUNKIRK was released 8 years ago this week. Christopher Nolan’s first war film, and acclaimed as one of the great World War II movies this century, the story of how it came to be is as epic as the film…
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In 1992, student filmmaker Christopher Nolan and girlfriend Emma Thomas took a trip across the English Channel – a recreation of the Dunkirk evacuation route. Nolan said it took 19 hours, freezing cold, and very tough, but it did give him an idea…
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Jul 21 • 37 tweets • 22 min read
OPPENHEIMER was released two year ago today. One of Christopher Nolan’s most successful films, the behind the scenes story is, like most Nolan productions, enormous…
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In 2005, American Prometheus was published. Written by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, it told the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, a theoretical physicist who was director of the Manhattan Project, and known as “The father of the atomic bomb.”
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Jul 20 • 49 tweets • 35 min read
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES was released 13 years ago today. The closing part of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy and featuring an all-star cast, the behind the scenes story is Gotham’s reckoning…
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After the success of The Dark Knight in 2008, Warner Bros wanted Christopher Nolan to complete the trilogy. Nolan hadn’t planned a third film and said "How many good third movies in a franchise can people name?” He said he would do it, but only if he could get a good story.
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Jul 19 • 48 tweets • 31 min read
THE DARK KNIGHT was released 17 years ago this week. Acclaimed as one of the great superhero movies and the film that cemented Christopher Nolan as the event moviemaker of his generation, the making of story will either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain…
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After the success of Batman Begins, Warner Bros were keen on Christopher Nolan directing a sequel. Two factors convinced Nolan to return:
-He’d never made a sequel before
-Batman Begins writer David S. Goyer had a treatment Nolan loved with The Joker as the villain
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Jul 18 • 53 tweets • 34 min read
ALIENS was released 39 years ago today. Acclaimed as one of the great action movies and best sequels ever made, the making of story is like being on an express elevator to hell… going down…
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With the success of Alien, 20th Century Fox were keen on a sequel but it was delayed until 1983. At that time, James Cameron was sending his script for The Terminator to studios to find writing work. Fox read it and liked it.
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Jul 16 • 44 tweets • 28 min read
INCEPTION was released 15 years ago today. A masterclass in how to blend digital and practical effects and one of the definitive films of Christopher Nolan, the making of story might have you believing it’s all a dream…
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Nolan first pitched the idea of Inception to Warner Bros after his third movie, Insomnia, in 2002. He had an 80 page treatment about ‘dream-stealers’, and WB loved it. To keep creative control, Nolan said he’d show them a finished script in a couple of months.
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Jul 15 • 45 tweets • 31 min read
DIE HARD was released 37 years ago today. Acclaimed as one of the great action movies and the film that catapulted the career of Bruce Willis, the making of story is bigger than the Nakatomi…
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In 1979, police officer-turned-author Roderick Thorp wrote Nothing Lasts Forever, inspired by a dream he had of armed assailants chasing a man through a building. Inspired by The Towering Inferno, 20th Century Fox bought the rights to adapt it for the big screen.
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Jul 14 • 39 tweets • 17 min read
THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT was released 26 years ago today. One of the most influential horror movies of its generation, and made on a shoestring budget, the making of story will have you scared to close your eyes…
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Student filmmakers Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez met at the University of Central Florida in 1993 and bonded over a love of horror. Together they came up with an idea: a group stumble upon a terrifying house in the woods and aren’t able to resist going inside.
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Jul 13 • 39 tweets • 29 min read
ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK was released 44 years ago this week. A cult science fiction classic and one of the best films to come out of the John Carpenter/Kurt Russell collaboration, its behind the scenes story was out there, even for Carpenter…
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After the Watergate scandal broke in 1976 and made global headlines, young filmmaker John Carpenter was inspired to write a script that reflected the public’s lack of faith in the government. Influenced by Death Wish, he penned a screenplay he called Escape From New York.
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Jul 12 • 48 tweets • 28 min read
POINT BREAK was released 34 years ago today. A hugely popular action film, and one of the most acclaimed of director Kathryn Bigelow, the behind the scenes story is like a death-defying skydive…
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In the mid-1980s, filmmaker Rick King was lounging on a beach and read an L.A. Weekly article stating that Los Angeles was the bank robbery capital of the USA. Taking in the waves, he imagined a movie about a gang of surfers holding up a bank.
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Jul 11 • 40 tweets • 28 min read
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL was released 22 years ago this week. One of the biggest blockbusters of its time - that led to one of the biggest ever movie franchises - , the story of how it came to the screen is either madness, or brilliance…
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In the early 1990s, screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio were keen on reinventing the pirate genre for the big screen. They came up with ideas around a swashbuckling adventure based upon the Pirates of the Caribbean Disney World ride.
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Jul 9 • 49 tweets • 29 min read
TRON was released 43 years ago today. A groundbreaking blend of concept and digital effects, and a film that launched the career of actor Jeff Bridges, the story of how it came to be is as thrilling as a Light Cycle…
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In 1976, animator Steven Lisberger came across the now-classic Atari video game Pong, and couldn’t stop playing it. Fascinated by the idea of computer-generated graphics, he had the idea for a movie set entirely within a digital-based world.
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Jul 7 • 30 tweets • 20 min read
CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON was released 25 years ago today. One of the most popular and most successful foreign language films in western culture, the story of how it came to be is as mind-boggling as its fight choreography…
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The Crane Iron Pentalogy is a series of 5 novels published in the 1930s and 1940s by acclaimed wuxia novelist Wang Dulu. The 4thbook in the series was called Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
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Jul 5 • 44 tweets • 30 min read
INDEPENDENCE DAY was released 29 years ago this week. An enormous box office hit and one of Hollywood’s biggest productions, the behind the scenes story is as spectacular as a spaceship blowing up the White House…
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In 1994, director Roland Emmerich and writer Dean Devlin were promoting their film, Stargate. In an interview, they got into a conversation with a journalist about aliens and what a visitation might look like. Later, Emmerich said to Devlin “I’ve an idea for our next film.”
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Jul 4 • 44 tweets • 32 min read
TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY was released 34 years ago this week. Acclaimed as one of the great blockbuster action films, and among the best sequels ever made, it remains a hugely spectacular movie with a making of story to match…
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The Terminator had been a huge hit in 1984, taking $78m from a $6.4mbudget. A sequel was stalled though because writer-director James Cameron had fallen out with Hemdale Film Corporation, who owned the rights to the franchise and owed Cameron profits from the first film.
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Jul 4 • 41 tweets • 28 min read
THE GREAT ESCAPE was released 62 years ago today. Featuring a huge all-star cast and one of the iconic themes in film, the making of story is as extraordinary as the real-life story on which it is based…
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In 1943, Australian Spitfire pilot Paul Brickhill was shot down over Tunisia and taken to World War II POW camp Stalag Luft III in Poland. There, he was one of 600 men who played a role in hatching and executing an escape from the camp.
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Jul 3 • 47 tweets • 30 min read
BACK TO THE FUTURE was released 40 years ago today. One of the most beloved movies of the 1980s, and the film that made Michael J. Fox a movie star, the behind the scenes story is pretty heavy…
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Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale had been long time filmmaking collaborators since meeting at USC film school. By the early 1980s they had two movies under their belt but were looking for a big hit.
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Jul 2 • 33 tweets • 21 min read
AIRPLANE! was released 45 years ago today. Still one of the most beloved comedies ever made, and the film that turned Leslie Nielsen to comedy, the story of how it came to the screen surely can’t be serious…
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In the mid 1970s, David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker (ZAZ) were performing with the Kentucky Fried Theatre comedy group. To get inspiration for their skits they used to leave a VCR running overnight to record the late night TV commercials.
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Jul 1 • 38 tweets • 26 min read
NORTH BY NORTHWEST was released 66 years ago today. Acclaimed as one of the great thriller movies and among Alfred Hitchcock’s best, the making of story will have you doubting your own identity…
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Following on from his huge success with psychological thriller Vertigo in 1958, Alfred Hitchcock said he wanted to do "something fun, light-hearted, and generally free of the symbolism permeating his other movies" for his next project.
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Jun 30 • 59 tweets • 35 min read
WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY was released 54 years ago today. One of the most beloved family films ever made and among the most popular works of Gene Wilder, the making of story is like entering a world of pure imagination…
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In 1964, children’s author published what would be one of his most popular novels. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory is the story of a young boy’s adventures inside a magical chocolate factory with its eccentric owner, Willy Wonka. It was an instant hit.