You Think You Know Movies?

You know Stephen King as one of the world’s most prolific and beloved fiction authors. But did you know King spent years writing books under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, and that several of “Bachman”s stories have been adapted to the screen too? That list includes the likes of the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie The Running Man. That’s just one of the facts featured in the latest installment of You Think You Know Movies!

You know the Planet of the Apes series, including the newest film, War for the Planet of the Apes. But did you know that the original movie, based on a French science-fiction novel, was actually co-written by The Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling? It’s true, and while some of Serling’s draft was changed before the film was made, one big component survived: He was the one who suggested the twist ending involving the Statue of Liberty. (Of course he did, Rod Serling loved twist endings.) That’s just one of the facts featured in the latest episode of You Think You Know Movies!

Think you know the first part of Edgar Wright’s Cornetto Trilogy? Test your knowledge with the latest installment of You Think You Know Movies!

You know the Transformers series, which unveils its fifth film, The Last Knight, later this week. But did you know that the franchise largely exists because of the war in Iraq? It’s true; producer Don Murphy originally pitched Hasbro on making a G.I. Joe film series, but because of the political climate in the early 2003 after 9/11, they were hesitant and suggested Murphy instead devote his energies to the Transformers. Hasbro did eventually make two big-budget G.I. Joes, but only after the Transformers became a massive success with Paramount and DreamWorks. That’s just one of the facts featured in the latest installment of You Think You Know Movies!

Unless you’re living in a fallout shelter, you know that Wonder Woman hits theaters this weekend, starring Gal Gadot as DC Comics’ Goddess of Truth. But did you know that a Wonder Woman movie has been in development since at least 1996, when Ghostbusters producer Ivan Reitman was attached to the movie? Joss Whedon spent a few years working on a Wonder Woman screenplay as well, and over the years actors like Angelina Jolie, Megan Fox, and Catherine Zeta-Jones were all rumored for the title role before Gadot won it for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. That’s just one of the wonderful facts featured in the latest episode of You Think You Know Movies!

You know Stanley Kubrick was a famously meticulous director. But did you know that he once made Shelley Duvall do a single shot 127 times in The Shining? In the scene, Duvall was being menaced by Jack Nicholson, and he felt the best way to get a convincing performance was to make her repeat it over and over until she was legitimately exhausted and frazzled. That’s just one of the Kubrickian facts featured in the latest episode of You Think You Know Movies!

You might know that The Usual Suspects title comes from a famous line in Casablanca. But did you know that director Bryan Singer and writer Christopher McQuarrie thought of that title before they had a plot for the movie? They also thought of their movie’s famous poster, with all the main characters standing in a lineup, before they had a story too. They put those pieces together and worked backwards from there. That’s just one of the unusual facts featured in the latest episode of You Think You Know Movies!

Before he went by his real name, Dwayne Johnson, he went by The Rock. Everyone knows that. But did you know that before he was The Rock, Johnson had two other wrestling names? In his earliest days, he was called “Flex Kavana,” and when he later debuted in the WWE, he went by “Rocky Maivia,” combining the names of his wrestler dad (Rocky Johnson) and grandfather (Peter Maivia). A little while later, Johnson adopted a bad guy persona and began referring to himself in third person as simply “The Rock.” And thus a legend was born, and thus that’s just one of the facts featured in the latest episode of You Think You Know Movies!

Everyone remembers Anthony Hopkins’ famous line as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs: “A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.” But did you know all three of those foods he mentions contain tyramine, a substance that can be deadly when taken with MAO inhibitors, the exact kind of drugs a mentally ill man like Lecter would likely have been prescribed. That’s just one of the delicious facts featured in the latest episode of You Think You Know Movies!

If you‘ve seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show (or even just the poster for the movie) you’ve seen those famous disembodied lips, which sing the song over the film’s opening credits. But did you know the lips belong to actress Patricia Quinn, who also plays Magenta? It’s true - but that’s not Quinn’s voice emanating from those bright red lips. In fact, the voice you hear is that of Richard O’Brien, the creator of The Rocky Horror Show and the actor who plays Riff Raff. That’s just one of the horrific facts featured in the last installment of You Think You Know Movies!