50 movie trivia facts you (probably) don't know

41. Alien (1979)

Did you know? When the Nostromo crew explore the Derelict ship they discover a gigantic chamber full of xenomorph eggs. It's a dark, sinister room that required a certain type of lighting to create the right feeling. Ridley Scott found a practical solution to lighting it by borrowing blue laser lighting from The Who, who were rehearsing their stage show in the soundstage next door.

39. The Dark Knight (2008)

Did you know? For the first four days of production, Christopher Nolan put cast and crew under a movie boot camp comprising eight films whose tone he wanted to emulate. In chronological order, these were: King Kong, Citizen Kane, Cat People, Stalag 17, Black Sunday, A Clockwork Orange, Heat, and Batman Begins.

38. Halloween (1978)

Did you know? That infamous mask worn by killer Michael Myers is not an original design created by the props department. To cut down on costs they purchased an existing prop for $2, a Captain Kirk mask from Star Trek. Yep. Michael Myers wears William Shatner's face. Take that, Leatherface!

37. Stalker (1979)

Did you know? Andrei Tarkovsky's Stalker is a film that's got to be seen to be believed. What's more interesting is how the filmmaker spent a year shooting all of the film's outdoor scenes, only to discover that poor developing had rendered the footage unusable. So he reshot the whole thing using a new cinematographer. Talk about commitment...

36. Watchmen (2009)

Did you know? Before cameras rolled on the divisive adaptation, Fox were in the mix to buy the rights to Alan Moore's seminal graphic novel. Ultimately, the real reason they passed emerged through an open letter posted online in which the film's producer Lloyd Levin said Fox execs "felt the script was one of the most unintelligible pieces of shit they had read in years."

35. Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace (1999)

Did you know? Prop designers for the first Star Wars prequel found inspiration for Qui-Gon Jinn's communicator in an unlikely spot. Instead of poring through old sci-fi books, or turning to up-and-coming technology, it seems they searched through their own bathrooms! Liam Neeson's fancy device is in fact a repurposed Gillette Ladies Sensor Excel razor. It was constructed using a resin cast of the outside of the razor. 

34. Jaws (1975)

Did you know? During a set visit, George Lucas decided it'd be an absolute hoot to stick his head inside the mouth of Bruce The Shark - the animatronic great white. Steven Spielberg got in on the fun and closed the jaws. The prank backfired when the prop malfunctioned and Lucas got stuck.

33. Oldboy (2004)

Did you know? Vegetarians and vegans, look away! The scene where Dae su chows down on an actual live animal was not faked. In order to deliver a believable performance, Min-sik Choi - a devout veggie - wolfed down four of the creatures during the notorious octopus eating scene. Even though he offered up apologies before he ate each one, the actor, also a Buddhist, then had to go and pray in atonement.

32. Blue Velvet (1986)

Did you know? David Lynch originally wanted to cast Molly Ringwald as girl-next-door Sandy opposite Kyle McLachlan. Ringwald's mother was so revolted by the screenplay that she didn't pass it on to the actress. The part went instead to Laura Dern, starting a longstanding working relationship with Lynch.