70 Fun Facts About 1990 Movie

Which film was the highest-grossing movie of 1990 worldwide?

Ghost took about $505 million worldwide on a budget near $22 million, and Whoopi Goldberg won Best Supporting Actress for it.

In Home Alone, Kevin McCallister's family accidentally leaves him behind while flying to which city?

The McCallisters fly to Paris for Christmas; eight-year-old Kevin, asleep in the attic, is left to defend the suburban Chicago house against two burglars.

Which studio originally planned to finance Home Alone but shut it down over budget before Fox picked it up?

Warner Bros. balked when the budget rose toward $15 million; 20th Century Fox picked it up and the film grossed more than $470 million worldwide.

What was the title of the original, much darker screenplay that became Pretty Woman?

The script was called 3000, after the $3,000 Vivian is paid for the week; Disney's Touchstone softened J.F. Lawton's dark drama into a romantic comedy.

Pretty Woman takes its title from a 1964 song by which singer?

Roy Orbison's 'Oh, Pretty Woman', a 1964 number-one hit, gave the film its title; Julia Roberts won a Golden Globe and her first Best Actress Oscar nomination.

Goodfellas is adapted from which 1985 nonfiction book by Nicholas Pileggi?

Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family (1985) follows Henry Hill from 1955 to 1980; the film dropped the title to avoid confusion with the TV series Wiseguy.

Which Goodfellas actor won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film?

Joe Pesci won Best Supporting Actor as Tommy DeVito, the film's only win from six nominations; his 'funny how?' scene grew out of improvised rehearsals.

Much of the dialogue in Dances With Wolves is spoken in which language, with English subtitles?

Lakota: Doris Leader Charge of Sinte Gleska University translated the script and coached the cast, and much of the film was shot in South Dakota.

From twelve nominations, how many Academy Awards did Dances With Wolves win, including Best Picture?

Dances With Wolves won 7 of its 12 nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director for Kevin Costner, the first Western to take Best Picture since Cimarron in 1931.

Total Recall was shot over six months on huge sets at Estudios Churubusco in which country?

Mexico: the film was shot at Estudios Churubusco in Mexico City over six months, with a budget estimated at $48-80 million, among the highest of its time.

Total Recall, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, is based on a short story by which science fiction author?

Philip K. Dick's 1966 story 'We Can Remember It for You Wholesale' was optioned by Ronald Shusett in 1974; a planned sequel later became Minority Report.

Which horror legend plays the Inventor in Edward Scissorhands?

Vincent Price plays the Inventor, Edward's creator, who dies before finishing him; Price had narrated Burton's 1982 animated short Vincent.

Tim Burton drew Edward Scissorhands from his childhood in which suburban California city?

Burbank: Burton based the pastel suburb on his own neighbourhood there, though the film was shot in Lutz, Florida, with Caroline Thompson writing the script.

The turtle costumes in the 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film were built by which effects workshop?

Jim Henson's Creature Shop built the animatronic turtle suits; Henson died in May 1990, less than two months after the film opened.

Which small independent acquired the 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film mid-production?

New Line Cinema, then best known for A Nightmare on Elm Street, distributed it; made for about $13.5 million, it grossed over $200 million, a record for an independent film.

Die Hard 2 traps John McClane at which airport as terrorists seize the air traffic control system?

Washington Dulles is snowed in while mercenaries seize its landing systems; McClane must fight past airport police and a military commander as planes circle low on fuel.

Who directed Die Hard 2, subtitled Die Harder?

Renny Harlin, the Finnish director of A Nightmare on Elm Street 4, took over because John McTiernan was making The Hunt for Red October.

The Hunt for Red October is adapted from a 1984 novel by which author?

Tom Clancy's debut novel, published by the Naval Institute Press in 1984, introduced CIA analyst Jack Ryan, played by Alec Baldwin in the film.

In which category did The Hunt for Red October win its only Academy Award?

Best Sound Editing (then called Sound Effects Editing) went to Cecelia Hall and George Watters II; the film's other nominations were for Sound and Film Editing.

Kindergarten Cop's school scenes were shot on location in which Oregon town?

Astoria's John Jacob Astor Elementary School stood in for the fictional school; the town had hosted The Goonies five years earlier.

Which film was Ivan Reitman's first collaboration with Arnold Schwarzenegger, before Kindergarten Cop?

Twins (1988) paired Schwarzenegger with Danny DeVito as unlikely siblings; Reitman directed it, Kindergarten Cop and the 1994 comedy Junior.

In Misery, which actor plays novelist Paul Sheldon, held captive by his obsessive fan Annie Wilkes?

James Caan took the role after several leading men passed; Kathy Bates won Best Actress as Annie Wilkes in Rob Reiner's adaptation of Stephen King's novel.

In Back to the Future Part III, Doc Brown is stranded in which year of the Old West?

Doc's DeLorean is struck by lightning and sends him to 1885, where Marty must rescue him from Buford 'Mad Dog' Tannen before he falls for Clara Clayton.

What title did Coppola and Puzo want for The Godfather Part III before Paramount rejected it?

Coppola and Puzo proposed The Death of Michael Corleone, seeing the film as an epilogue; the 2020 recut was released as The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone.

Whose casting as Mary Corleone in The Godfather Part III drew accusations of nepotism?

Sofia Coppola, the director's daughter, replaced Winona Ryder at the last minute; she later won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Lost in Translation in 2004.

Who produced, directed and starred in the 1990 comic-strip adaptation Dick Tracy?

Warren Beatty produced, directed and starred as Tracy, with Madonna as Breathless Mahoney and Al Pacino, Oscar-nominated, as Big Boy Caprice.

Tremors is set in which fictional isolated Nevada desert town?

The town is Perfection, Nevada, menaced by subterranean worms nicknamed Graboids; the film was shot in Inyo County, California, on a purpose-built set near Lone Pine.

Which country singer made her acting debut in Tremors?

Reba McEntire plays survivalist Heather Gummer, wife of Michael Gross's Burt Gummer, in her first film role; the singer had released her debut album in 1977.

Arachnophobia was the first film produced by which Walt Disney Studios label?

Hollywood Pictures launched with Arachnophobia in July 1990; it was also the directorial debut of Spielberg's longtime producer Frank Marshall.

The five main characters in Flatliners, who deliberately induce near-death experiences, are what?

They are medical students, played by Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon, William Baldwin and Oliver Platt; Sutherland returned for the 2017 follow-up.

Which star of Days of Thunder co-wrote the film's story with screenwriter Robert Towne?

Tom Cruise shares the story credit with Robert Towne; real NASCAR drivers including Richard Petty and Rusty Wallace appear, and Hans Zimmer wrote the score.

In Awakenings, Robin Williams's doctor discovers the effects of which drug on catatonic patients?

L-DOPA, the Parkinson's drug, briefly revives encephalitis lethargica patients in Oliver Sacks's 1973 memoir; the film earned Best Picture and Best Actor nominations.

The Rescuers Down Under was the first feature film created entirely digitally, using which Disney system?

CAPS, the Computer Animation Production System developed for Disney by Pixar, handled all ink, paint and compositing; the film was also Disney's first theatrically released animated sequel.

In which city does Gremlins 2: The New Batch unleash the creatures in a skyscraper?

New York: the Gremlins overrun Clamp Center, a Manhattan tower owned by Daniel Clamp, after Gizmo gets wet; Joe Dante returned to direct.

Which comic-book writer, famous for The Dark Knight Returns, co-wrote the screenplay for RoboCop 2?

He later adapted his original scripts for the sequels into the comic series Frank Miller's RoboCop.

Predator 2 moves the alien hunter from the jungle to the streets of which city?

Los Angeles in a sweltering 1997, ten years after the original, is the hunting ground; Danny Glover stars, with Kevin Peter Hall back in the creature suit.

Sam Raimi created Darkman after Universal turned down his wish to adapt which pulp hero?

Raimi could not obtain the rights to The Shadow, so he expanded his own short story into Darkman as a tribute to Universal's 1930s horror films.

Who stars opposite Tom Hanks in Joe Versus the Volcano, playing three different women?

Meg Ryan plays three roles, DeDe, Angelica and Patricia, in John Patrick Shanley's directing debut, produced by Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment.

Which sitcom star plays Ben Healy, the adoptive father of Junior, in Problem Child?

John Ritter, of Three's Company, plays Ben Healy; the film was the feature directing debut of Dennis Dugan, later Adam Sandler's regular director.

Who voices baby Julie in Look Who's Talking Too?

Roseanne Barr voices baby Julie, opposite Bruce Willis as Mikey; Amy Heckerling again directed, and Damon Wayans voices a third baby, Eddie.

Which real-life heavyweight boxer plays Rocky's protégé in Rocky V?

Tommy Morrison, who later held the WBO heavyweight title in 1993, plays Tommy 'The Machine' Gunn; John G. Avildsen returned to direct and Sage Stallone debuted as Rocky Jr.

Which filmmaking duo wrote and directed the Prohibition-era gangster film Miller's Crossing?

The Coen brothers made Miller's Crossing between Raising Arizona and Barton Fink; Gabriel Byrne's Tom Reagan plays two rival gangs against each other.

David Lynch's Wild at Heart is famous for its many allusions to which classic film?

The Wizard of Oz echoes run throughout, from Laura Dern's Lula clicking her heels to Glinda appearing in a bubble; Lynch changed the novel's ending so Sailor and Lula stay together.

John Waters's teen musical Cry-Baby, starring Johnny Depp, is set in which 1950s city?

Cry-Baby is set in 1954 Baltimore, Waters's hometown and the setting of all his films; it was his first film after the death of his muse Divine.

House Party stars which hip hop duo, alongside Martin Lawrence and Robin Harris?

Kid 'n Play, Christopher Reid and Christopher Martin, star in Reginald Hudlin's feature debut, which won the Filmmakers Trophy at the 1990 Sundance Film Festival.

Jacob's Ladder, with Tim Robbins as a hallucinating Vietnam veteran, heavily influenced which video game series?

Silent Hill's creators cited the film's flickering, twitching demons as a key influence; Bruce Joel Rubin wrote the script around 1980, a decade before Adrian Lyne filmed it.

Who plays the Grand High Witch in Nicolas Roeg's 1990 adaptation of Roald Dahl's The Witches?

Anjelica Huston plays the Grand High Witch, who transforms children into mice; Dahl disliked the altered happy ending, and Jim Henson was executive producer.

The bank-heist comedy Quick Change is the only directing credit of which comedy star?

Bill Murray co-directed with Howard Franklin and plays Grimm, who robs the bank dressed as a clown, then gets hopelessly lost trying to get out of the city.

Who won the Best Actor Oscar for playing Claus von Bülow in Reversal of Fortune?

Jeremy Irons won Best Actor for his chilly von Bülow; the film is based on defence lawyer Alan Dershowitz's book, with Glenn Close as Sunny.

Which French actor played the title role in the 1990 Cyrano de Bergerac?

Gérard Depardieu earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination for Cyrano and, the same year, a Golden Globe for Green Card.

Mermaids, starring Cher and Winona Ryder, marked the film debut of which future Addams Family star?

Christina Ricci plays Kate, Cher's younger daughter, in her first film; Lasse Hallström and Frank Oz both left before Richard Benjamin directed.

Which actress adapted Postcards from the Edge from her own semi-autobiographical novel?

Carrie Fisher adapted her 1987 novel, drawn from her own experiences of fame and addiction; Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine starred for director Mike Nichols.

Who plays the ex-girlfriend of Mel Gibson's witness-protection fugitive in Bird on a Wire?

Goldie Hawn plays Marianne Graves, a lawyer who reunites with Gibson's Rick Jarmin; John Badham, who made WarGames and Short Circuit, directed.

In the notorious Troll 2, the goblin-infested town the family visits has what name?

Nilbog, 'goblin' spelled backwards, was shot under the title Goblins and has no connection to 1986's Troll; the 2009 documentary Best Worst Movie chronicles its cult.

Who wrote and directed Nikita (La Femme Nikita), later remade in Hollywood as Point of No Return?

Luc Besson wrote the role for Anne Parillaud, his partner at the time; the 1993 Hollywood remake starred Bridget Fonda, and Hong Kong's Black Cat followed in 1991.

The Two Jakes, directed by and starring Jack Nicholson, is the sequel to which 1974 film?

Chinatown's Jake Gittes returns, eleven years on, in a story by Robert Towne; Faye Dunaway's Evelyn Mulwray appears only as a brief voice-over.

Longtime Companion takes its title from an obituary euphemism used by which newspaper?

The New York Times used 'longtime companion' in obituaries to describe the surviving partners of men who died of AIDS; Bruce Davison earned an Oscar nomination for the film.

Which author wrote the novel behind Brian De Palma's flop The Bonfire of the Vanities?

Tom Wolfe's 1987 novel satirised 1980s Wall Street; the film, starring Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis and Melanie Griffith, lost money and was chronicled in Julie Salamon's The Devil's Candy.

Which lawyer-turned-author wrote the novel behind Presumed Innocent, starring Harrison Ford?

Scott Turow, a Chicago federal prosecutor, wrote the 1987 bestseller; Alan J. Pakula rewrote the script with Frank Pierson before agreeing to direct.

What was William Peter Blatty's 1983 novel, the basis of The Exorcist III, called?

Legion (1983) was Blatty's own sequel to The Exorcist; its Gemini Killer was partly modelled on the Zodiac Killer, and the studio forced an exorcism climax onto the film.

Which former Cannon Films boss produced the direct-to-video 1990 Captain America film?

Menahem Golan made it through his post-Cannon company 21st Century Film Corporation; Albert Pyun directed, and the film got a theatrical release in some countries outside the US.

Air America, with Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr. as CIA airline pilots, is set in which country?

Laos: Air America was the CIA's covert airline during the Secret War there; Christopher Robbins's 1979 book inspired the film, which was shot in Thailand.

Who directed Ju Dou, the first Chinese film nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar?

Zhang Yimou directed Ju Dou with Gong Li in the lead; the pair followed it with Raise the Red Lantern in 1991, also Oscar-nominated.

Who hosted the 63rd Academy Awards in March 1991, for the second year in a row?

Billy Crystal hosted on March 25, 1991, the second of four straight years; Dances With Wolves won Best Picture that night.

What type of aircraft was the real World War II bomber dramatised in Memphis Belle?

The Memphis Belle was a B-17 Flying Fortress of the 91st Bomb Group; Catherine Wyler co-produced the film in tribute to her father William Wyler's 1944 documentary.

Young Guns II follows which outlaw after the Lincoln County War, narrated by a man who claimed in 1950 to be him?

Billy the Kid, played by Emilio Estevez, is recalled by Brushy Bill Roberts, who claimed in 1950 to be him; Jon Bon Jovi's Blaze of Glory earned an Oscar nomination.

Which Australian director wrote and directed Green Card?

Peter Weir, who had made Witness and Dead Poets Society, earned a Best Original Screenplay nomination; Andie MacDowell co-starred.

Which actor stars opposite Eric Idle in the British comedy Nuns on the Run?

Robbie Coltrane plays Charlie McManus to Idle's Brian Hope; Jonathan Lynn, co-creator of Yes Minister, wrote and directed for HandMade Films.

Emilio Estevez starred in his own comedy Men at Work opposite which real-life relative?

Charlie Sheen, his younger brother, co-stars as a fellow garbage collector; the two had already worked together on Young Guns in 1988.

Which actress plays the title role in Woody Allen's 1990 fantasy comedy Alice?

Mia Farrow plays Alice Tait, a wealthy Manhattan wife given magical herbs by a Chinese herbalist, Dr. Yang; Joe Mantegna and William Hurt co-star.