You Think You Know Movies?

Today The Shining is hailed as one of the greatest horror movies ever made. But did you know Stephen King, the man who wrote the novel The Shining is based on, is not a fan of the movie? He told Playboy he was “deeply disappointed in the end result” in 1983. That’s just one of The Shining facts featured in the newest episode of You Think You Know Movies!

Everyone knows Iron Man as the cornerstone of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Sark, the man who plays Marvel’s Shellhead. But did you know before Downey got the role and Marvel started its cinematic universe, Tom Cruise wanted to play Tony Stark? At one point, Cruise wanted to star in and produce an Iron Man movie. That’s just one of the Tom Cruise facts featured in the newest episode of You Think You Know Movies!

The Nightmare Before Christmas is a beloved ’90s classic. But did you know the movie started life over ten years earlier, when producer Tim Burton wrote a poem in 1982? At the time, Burton was an animator at Walt Disney Studios, and he tried to turn The Nightmare Before Christmas into a short film. Disney considered it, but nothing ever happened with it, and eventually Burton lost his job. Then he went on to direct Pee-wee’s Big Adventure and Batman. Suddenly, Disney was more interested in The Nightmare Before Christmas, and as an entire feature-length film. That’s just one of the Nightmare Before Christmas facts featured in the newest episode of You Think You Know Movies!

Everyone knows that Ben Affleck and Matt Damon collaborated on Good Will Hunting, and the film launched both of them to stardom and their first Oscar wins. But did you know that Damon and Affleck have been friends since elementary school, when they both attended Cambridge Alternative Public School? They often met during lunch to talk about how they would both become actors, and even worked as ushers in movie theaters when they were kids. That’s just one of the Ben Affleck facts featured in the newest episode of You Think You Know Movies!

You might know that early in his career, Harrison Ford was credited as “Harrison J. Ford.” But did you know that the ‘j’ doesn’t stand for anything? Harrison Ford doesn’t even have a middle name. He adopted it to avoid any confusion with another actor named Harrison Ford, who’d had a lengthy career in the silent film era and died in 1957. That’s just one of the incredible Harrson Ford facts featured in the nwest episode of You Think You Know Movies!

You know that the werewolves versus vampires film Underworld has spawned three sequels, with a fourth, Underworld: Blood Wars, coming soon. But did you know that when director Len Wiseman was developing the first Underworld, he got too ambitious with his story? Eventually he realized that his screenplay was getting to dense for one film. Rather than condensing everything to fit into a single movie, he removed whole sections so that they could be used for future sequels. That’s just one of the blood-sucking facts featured in this new episode of You Think You Know Movies!

Everyone knows that Indiana Jones took his name from the family dog. But did you know that the man who played Indy’s dad, Sean Connery is only 12 years older than Harrison Ford? Despite the relative closeness of their ages, director Steven Spielberg and producer George Lucas couldn’t imagine anyone but James Bond playing the father of Indiana Jones. That’s just one of the Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade facts featured in this new episode of You Think You Know Movies!

He’s known all over the world as Denzel. But did you know Denzel Washington’s legal name is Denzel Washington Jr.? And his father, Denzel Washington Sr., pronounces his name differently than his son? (He goes by “DEN-zel,” not “den-ZELLE.”) That’s because Denzel Jr. is named after his father, but his father is actually named after the doctor who delivered him, a man named Dr. Denzel. That’s just one of the facts featured in the new episode of You Think You Know Movies!

By now, Finding Dory is one of the biggest hits in the history of Pixar. But did you know it’s also one of the biggest animated movies of all time and one of the 50 highest grossing films of any kind ever? That’s just one of the facts we found in the depths of the internet for this new episode of You Think You Know Movies!

Released in 1999, The Blair Witch Project quickly became one of the most profitable independent films of all time. It wasn’t technically the first found footage horror film, but it’s still the most famous of the bunch. Everyone knows the Blair Witch name (and the names Heather, Josh and Mike), but did you know that directors Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick’s wildly successful horror flick didn’t even have a script? That’s just one of the facts featured in the last episode of You Think You Know Movies!