Skip to main content
  • TotalFilm
  • Edge
  • Newsarama
  • Retrogamer
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+
US EditionUS CA EditionCanada UK EditionUK AU EditionAustralia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • More
    • PS5
    • Xbox Series X
    • Nintendo Switch
    • Nintendo Switch 2
    • PC
    • Platforms
    • Tabletop Gaming
    • Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsletters
    • About us
    • Features
Trending
  • Best Netflix Movies
  • Movie Release Dates
  • Best movies on Disney Plus
  • Best Netflix Shows
  1. Entertainment
  2. Movies

20 Coolest Movie World Records

Features
By James White published 17 September 2009

The first 3D flick, the earliest SFX shot, the... youngest director?

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • Flipboard
  • Email
Share this article
Join the conversation
Follow us
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Get the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Bringing all the latest movie news, features, and reviews to your inbox


By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

You are now subscribed

Your newsletter sign-up was successful


An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
Subscribe to our newsletter

Most Special Effects In One Movie

The current record holder is a giant ape.

Peter Jackson's King Kong (2005) featured 2,510 visual effects shots, with a further 279 included in the extended DVD. A total of 3,809 FX shots were created, although not all were used. The movie won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects in 2006.

Wonder if Avatar has bested it?

Highest Box Office Film Gross For One Actor

The highest-grossing actor is Samuel L Jackson, whose 68 movies have grossed a total of $7.42 billion (£3.94 billion).

To be fair, he's appeared in several thousand films, including many that made very little money at all.

Earliest Film Shot In Hollywood

The first movie shot in Hollywood, USA was In Old California (USA, 1910), filmed in 1907 when a Chicago production corralled by DW Griffith moved to California looking for good weather to finish the movie. They started in downtown LA but moved north looking for new locations.

Bet the next film shot was a porno.

Longest Film Ever Produced


The longest film ever made was the 85 hour The Cure for Insomnia (USA 1987), directed by John Henry Timmis IV and premiered in its entirety at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, USA from 31 January to 3 February 1987.

Much of the film consisted of LD Groban reading his own 4,080 page poem, interspersed with scenes of a rock band and what makers describe as some X-rated footage.

Most. Apt. Title. Ever. But it's still easier to sit through than House Of The Dead.

Highest Grossest Single Film

The film with the highest earnings is Titanic, which was released on 19 December 1997 to become the first film to ever take $1 billion at the international box office, with a total gross of $1,834,165,466 (£1,249,388,962).

Further Info It made a record ten week gross of $918.6 million (£574.1 million) worldwide.

It finally closed on 12 September 2001 in Argentina.

Let the "adjusted for inflation, Gone With The Wind made more" arguments start… now.

Highest Grossing Film Series

The 21 Bond movies, from Dr No (1962) to Casino Royale (2006), have grossed more than $4.49 billion (£2.28 billion) worldwide.

Quantum Of Solace added to that, of course, even though it wasn't as successful as Royale.

First Ever Film Adapted From A TV Show

This is credited to the thriller Dragnet (1954) starring Jack Webb as Sergeant Joe Friday, the role he had created in the NBC TV series, which had then been running for three years and was to continue until 1959.

In 1969 the movie of the TV show was remade as a TV movie. And later, of course, it would become a bigger film starring Dan Aykroyd as Friday. Just the facts, ma'am…

Sign up for the Total Film Newsletter

Bringing all the latest movie news, features, and reviews to your inbox

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

First Ever In-Flight Movie

The first in-flight movie was First National's The Lost World (USA 1925), shown during an Imperial Airway's flight in a converted Handley-Page bomber, from London to Paris in April 1925.

Wonder how they got an entire cinema on to the plane? Oh, wait…

First 3D Film

3D still seems to be managing a comeback - but it's been around a lot longer than you think.

Experiments and shorts aside, the first colour 3-D movie was Bwana Devil (1952), which used the red-green "anaglyph" process first demonstrated as early as 1856.

Most Common Sound Effect

For the 1951 movie Distant Drums, a series of six short sound recordings was made in post-production to accompany the visuals of a soldier being bitten by an alligator and dragged into a stream. The scream effect was archived by Warner Bros. and used exclusively by the studio in a series of movies, including Them! (1954), The Sea Chase (1955) and A Star is Born (1954) before being picked up by sound effects editor Ben Burtt.

Burtt dubbed it the "Wilhelm Scream", after the character in the original movie, and used it in, among others, Star Wars (1977, above) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Since then, the scream has been adopted by countless sound engineers and used in films such as Batman Returns (1992), Planet of the Apes ((2001), Madagascar (2005) and, most recently, Norbit (2007). To date, it has featured in at least 133 movies, as well as in computer games and theme park rides.

  • 1
  • 2

Current page: Page 2

Prev Page Page 1
James White
Freelance Journalist

James White is a freelance journalist who has been covering film and TV for over two decades. In that time, James has written for a wide variety of publications including Total Film and SFX. He has also worked for BAFTA and on ODEON's in-cinema magazine. 

Latest in Movies
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
Brie Larson knows "every detail" of Super Mario Galaxy, so trust her when she says the movie is "filled with references"
 
 
Ryan Gosling as Ryland Grace in Project Hail Mary
Project Hail Mary debuts to near-perfect 96% Rotten Tomatoes score
 
 
Dafne Keen brandishing her claws as Laura/X-23 in Deadpool and Wolverine
Marvel fans are debating whether Dafne Keen should become Wolverine or stay as X-23, and I've already chosen a side
 
 
Five Nights at Freddy's 2
After the first two movies were written by Scott Cawthon, Five Nights at Freddy's 3 reportedly has new screenwriters
 
 
Mortal Kombat movie
Mortal Kombat 2 star joins in with Street Fighter movie beef after Game Awards dig because he "loves a good rivalry"
 
 
Fujino and Kyomoto eating in Look Back
Live-action adaptation of Chainsaw Man creator's Look Back will escape Japanese cinemas and come to the west
 
 
Latest in Features
BG3
The future of RPGs is isometric
 
 
Photo of a Mario nendoroid figure holding a microSD Express card with a Turtle Beach Switch 2 case in the background.
These Mario Day-inspired Switch 2 accessories will power up your console more than a super star
 
 
Underside of Alienware 16 Area-51 gaming laptop with glass viewing window and RGB fans
We could get a shock when 2026 gaming laptop prices are unveiled, here's what you need to know about buying this year
 
 
Emily Rudd as Nami and Iñaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy in Netflix's One Piece
One Piece season 2 ending explained: Who is Mr. Zero? Who dies? Will there be a season 3?
 
 
In Hitman World of Assassination, Agent 47 sits at the departure gate in an airport during the loading screen
After weeks spent locked into Hitman's Freelancer mode, I realize there's one vital thing 007 First Light needs to learn
 
 
Mario gadgets, accessories, and games on a blue background
The ultimate Mario Day starter pack, kit up for the plumber's big day
 
 
LATEST ARTICLES
  1. A screenshot of Fortnite's Jonesy looking serious.
    1
    Fortnite faces backlash over V-Bucks price increase, but Epic lead argues it helps devs keep "building stuff you love"
  2. 2
    Marvel Rivals devs felt "panic" at the thought of going into the live-service graveyard that just claimed Highguard
  3. 3
    Diablo 4's Lord of Hatred expansion will be "really f*cking hard" at its highest difficulty, dev threatens
  4. 4
    Marvel fans are debating whether Dafne Keen should become Wolverine or stay as X-23, and I've already chosen a side
  5. 5
    "I wouldn't rule out a Palworld 2.0," says Pocketpair publishing head, but don't expect a "No Man's Sky situation"

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google
  • Terms and conditions
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Accessibility statement
  • Careers
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...