70 Fun Facts About 1990 Movie

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

Ghost took more than $500 million worldwide on a budget of about $22 million, edging out Home Alone, which beat it by almost $70 million in North America.

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 rescued Home Alone after Warner Bros. shut it down over a rising budget?

20th Century Fox took the film on after Warner Bros. halted it for going over budget; John Hughes had quietly sounded Fox out in advance, and it 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' gave the film its title; he wrote it after co-writer Bill Dees joked that a pretty woman never needs any money as Orbison's wife headed out shopping.

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

Wiseguy is Pileggi's account of Henry Hill, a mob associate turned informant; Scorsese retitled the film because a Brian De Palma comedy and a TV crime series had just used near-identical names.

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

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.

Who won the Best Director Oscar for Dances With Wolves on his directing debut?

Kevin Costner had urged writer Michael Blake to turn his Western screenplay into a novel, then bought the rights and directed it himself; the film won seven Oscars from twelve nominations.

Total Recall was filmed on vast sets at the Estudios Churubusco studios in which country?

Mexico: the production built its Mars at Estudios Churubusco in the capital and also shot in Mexico City's Metro stations, which doubled as the future.

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 bought for the screen 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 company?

Jim Henson's Creature Shop built the suits in London, with puppeteers working each turtle's face by remote control; Henson died in May 1990, less than two months after the film opened.

Which independent studio, then best known for Freddy Krueger, picked up the 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film mid-production?

New Line Cinema, 'the house that Freddy built', took the film on after the major studios passed, fearing a flop; made for about $13.5 million, it grossed over $200 million.

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 after John McTiernan left to make The Hunt for Red October?

Renny Harlin, who had made A Nightmare on Elm Street 4, took over; the script was adapted from Walter Wager's novel 58 Minutes, a thriller that had nothing to do with John McClane.

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

Tom Clancy was an insurance agent when the Naval Institute Press bought his debut for $5,000 as its first novel; it introduced CIA analyst Jack Ryan, played on screen by Alec Baldwin.

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

Best Sound Editing was the only Oscar, from three nominations, for a thriller whose Soviet submarine is built to slip past sonar unheard; its other nods were for Sound and Film Editing.

Kindergarten Cop's school scenes were shot in which Oregon town, already famous as the home of The Goonies?

Astoria's John Jacob Astor Elementary played the film's school; most of the filming took place after term ended in June 1990, which let pupils and teachers appear as extras.

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

Twins (1988) paired Schwarzenegger with Danny DeVito as unlikely brothers; with the studio wary of him in a comedy, he, DeVito and Reitman gave up their salaries for a share of the profits.

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, what name does Marty McFly go by in the Old West?

Clint Eastwood is the alias Marty gives in 1885; he later survives a duel with Buford 'Mad Dog' Tannen by wearing a stove door as a bulletproof vest.

What title did the filmmakers want for The Godfather Part III before Paramount rejected it?

The Death of Michael Corleone was the title they wanted, seeing the film as an epilogue to the saga; the 2020 recut finally used it, as The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone.

Who played Mary Corleone in The Godfather Part III after Winona Ryder withdrew from the role?

Sofia Coppola, the director's daughter, stepped in when Winona Ryder withdrew with nervous exhaustion, and her casting drew charges of nepotism; she later won a screenwriting Oscar for Lost in Translation.

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

Warren Beatty produced, directed and starred as Tracy, and held the film to a few flat primary colours to echo the comic strip; Al Pacino was 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, in her first acting role; she postponed her honeymoon until the shoot was over.

Which actor plays exterminator Delbert McClintock in the spider thriller Arachnophobia?

John Goodman plays exterminator Delbert McClintock; the film used more than 300 Avondale spiders from New Zealand, chosen because they are big but harmless to people.

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

Medical students: four of the five have their hearts stopped in turn, then find themselves haunted by figures from their pasts; Kiefer Sutherland, who led the cast, returned for the 2017 follow-up.

Which star of Days of Thunder co-wrote its story with screenwriter Robert Towne?

Tom Cruise shares the story credit with Robert Towne; he began pitching the film after test-driving a stock car at Daytona with Paul Newman in 1987 and trading stories with team owner Rick Hendrick.

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.

Disney made The Rescuers Down Under with a digital ink-and-paint system co-developed with which company?

Pixar, then a computer graphics firm, co-developed CAPS, which made this the first feature inked and painted entirely by computer; it opened the same day as Home Alone and underperformed.

In which city does Gremlins 2 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?

Frank Miller's script was rejected as unfilmable and rewritten by Walon Green; his original screenplay later became the comic Frank Miller's RoboCop, adapted by Steven Grant.

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

Los Angeles, gripped by a heatwave and a drug-gang war in 1997, becomes the Predator's hunting ground; Danny Glover's detective tracks it, 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 DeDe, Angelica and Patricia, the three women in Joe's life once he is told he is dying of a 'brain cloud' and agrees to leap into a volcano; John Patrick Shanley wrote and directed.

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

John Ritter, of Three's Company, plays Ben Healy, whose wife Flo is played by Amy Yasbeck; the two actors married in real life in 1999.

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

Roseanne Barr voices baby Julie, whose arrival leaves Bruce Willis's Mikey jealous of the attention she gets; Damon Wayans voices his playmate Eddie.

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

Tommy Morrison was cast as Tommy 'The Machine' Gunn after Sylvester Stallone watched one of his fights; in 1993 he beat George Foreman to win the WBO heavyweight title.

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, down to Glinda the Good Witch appearing to Sailor in a vision; Lynch also changed the novel's ending so that Sailor and Lula stay together.

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

Baltimore, Waters's hometown, is the film's 1954 setting, where a delinquent 'drape' and a 'square' good girl scandalise the city by falling in love; it was his first film after the death of 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 he expanded from his Harvard thesis short; it won the Filmmakers Trophy at Sundance in 1990.

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

Silent Hill drew on the film's nightmarish imagery; Bruce Joel Rubin began the script in 1980 after dreaming he was trapped in a subway station, and spent years trying to sell 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 plots to turn children into mice; Roald Dahl disliked the film's ending, which departs from his book.

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 as von Bülow, who hires Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz to overturn his conviction for trying to kill his comatose wife Sunny; the film draws on Dershowitz's book.

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

Gérard Depardieu earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination as Cyrano; for English-speaking audiences the subtitles used Anthony Burgess's rhyming verse translation.

Mermaids, starring Cher and Winona Ryder, gave a first screen role to 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; in the film an actress fresh from rehab after an overdose can only work if she moves back in with her mother, a veteran actress played by Shirley MacLaine opposite Meryl Streep.

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

Goldie Hawn plays Marianne Graves, who recognises Gibson's fugitive at a gas station and blows his cover; the title nods to Leonard Cohen's song 'Bird on the Wire'.

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

Nilbog is 'goblin' spelled backwards: the film was shot as Goblins, features no trolls and has no link to 1986's Troll; the documentary Best Worst Movie charts its cult following.

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

Luc Besson cast his then wife Anne Parillaud as the convicted killer retrained as a government assassin; Hong Kong got its remake in first, with Black Cat 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; writer Robert Towne was once set to direct, with producer Robert Evans co-starring, before Nicholson took the helm himself.

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's 1987 debut follows prosecutor Rusty Sabich, who is handed a colleague's murder case and ends up on trial for it himself; Alan J. Pakula directed and co-wrote the film.

Who wrote and directed The Exorcist III from his own novel?

William Peter Blatty adapted it from his own 1983 sequel novel Legion; the producers then ordered reshoots that added an exorcist priest and an exorcism climax to justify the Exorcist name.

Which Marvel villain, reimagined as an Italian fascist experiment, does the hero fight in 1990's Captain America?

Red Skull, played by Scott Paulin, begins here as an Italian child prodigy kidnapped by the Fascist government in 1936; the low-budget film went straight to video in the United States.

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 co-directed Ju Dou with Yang Fengliang, with Gong Li in the lead; China banned the film at home and tried, unsuccessfully, to have it withdrawn from the Oscars.

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

Billy Crystal made his entrance with a horse, a plug for his coming comedy City Slickers, on the night Dances With Wolves took Best Picture.

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

B-17 Flying Fortress: the Memphis Belle's crew flew the 25 missions that earned a trip home, then toured 31 American cities selling war bonds.

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 was shot by Pat Garrett in 1881, yet Brushy Bill Roberts went to a state governor in 1950 to claim the Kid's promised pardon; he was dismissed and died within weeks.

Which Australian director made Green Card a year after Dead Poets Society?

Peter Weir built the comedy on a marriage of convenience: a Frenchman weds an American to stay in the country, then the pair must convince immigration officers it is real.

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

Robbie Coltrane and Idle play gangsters who double-cross their boss, then hide from two mobs in a convent, disguised as nuns.

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

Charlie Sheen, his brother, plays his fellow garbage man; the pair find a murdered politician's body on their route and get dragged into the cover-up.

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

Mia Farrow plays Alice Tate, a pampered Manhattan wife whose herbalist, Dr. Yang, gives her potions, one of which turns her invisible so she can eavesdrop.