40 Fun Facts About The Mountain Between Us

Which star of The Revenant warned his friend Kate Winslet about the cold before she made The Mountain Between Us?

Leonardo DiCaprio told her she was crazy to sign up for a freezing shoot. She answered with photos of herself lying in the snow, and he sent back worried emojis.

Which wild animal attacks Alex and the dog in The Mountain Between Us while Ben is away?

A cougar mauls the dog before Alex kills it, and the hungry pair then eat the animal for dinner.

What does Alex use to kill the predator that mauls the dog in The Mountain Between Us?

A flare gun does the job: Alex fires at the animal and kills it. Ben comes back to treat the dog's wounds.

What is the specialty of Ben Bass, the doctor racing to an operation in The Mountain Between Us?

Neurosurgery is Ben's field, and he is based in Baltimore. His medical training keeps both survivors alive on the mountain.

In The Mountain Between Us, what is the profession of Alex, the bride-to-be played by Kate Winslet?

Photojournalist Alex was reinvented for the screen: in the novel she writes for magazines, and it is the doctor who charters the plane.

In The Mountain Between Us, what breed is the pilot's dog that survives the crash with Ben and Alex?

A Labrador Retriever, played on screen by two dogs named Raleigh and Austin, comes through the crash and stays with the survivors to the end.

What medical emergency kills the pilot Walter at the controls in The Mountain Between Us?

A stroke fells Walter in mid-air, and his small plane comes down on a mountaintop with its tail torn away.

What did the pilot in The Mountain Between Us neglect to do, so nobody knows where to search?

File a flight plan: Walter skips it, so no one on the ground knows the route, and the wreck's emergency beacon turns out to be smashed.

Which science-fiction sequel beat The Mountain Between Us to first place on its opening weekend?

Blade Runner 2049 opened the same weekend and took first place, leaving the survival romance second with about $10 million.

Which Palestinian director, Oscar-nominated for Paradise Now and Omar, made The Mountain Between Us?

Hany Abu-Assad worked as an aircraft engineer before turning to film, and this plane-crash story was his Hollywood debut.

Which composer of the Game of Thrones theme wrote the score for The Mountain Between Us?

Ramin Djawadi, who also scored Iron Man and Westworld, composed and conducted the music himself.

The Mountain Between Us is adapted from a novel by which American author of When Crickets Cry?

Charles Martin told the story from the doctor's point of view, while the film tilts towards the woman stranded beside him.

Which My Best Friend's Wedding actor plays Mark, Alex's fiancé, in The Mountain Between Us?

Dermot Mulroney had been stranded by a plane crash on screen before, as one of the oil workers stalked by wolves in The Grey.

Which actor, elder brother of a Big Lebowski star, plays the pilot Walter in The Mountain Between Us?

Beau Bridges is the older brother of Jeff, and the two starred together in The Fabulous Baker Boys.

At which major film festival did The Mountain Between Us have its world premiere in September 2017?

Toronto screened it as a gala presentation, about a month before the film opened in US cinemas.

Although its story is set in the American Rockies, The Mountain Between Us was filmed in which country?

Canada supplied the snow: filming took place on the border of Alberta and British Columbia, in cold so fierce the director said it was hard to speak.

How did the cast and crew of The Mountain Between Us reach their mountaintop set each day?

By helicopter, and only when the weather allowed: each day's call sheet carried five different scenarios.

Why can Ben no longer work as a surgeon by the end of The Mountain Between Us?

Frostbite to his hands ends Ben's operating career, so he reinvents himself as a consultant instead.

At the end of The Mountain Between Us, in which city is Ben working as a medical consultant?

London is Ben's new base when he and Alex finally meet again, at a restaurant in New York.

In The Mountain Between Us, what does Ben reveal killed his wife two years before the crash?

A brain tumor took her, and Ben carries a recording of her voice, which Alex plays while he is away.

What shelter do Ben and Alex stay in for several days while she recovers in The Mountain Between Us?

An empty cabin, which Alex first glimpses from far off, gives the pair a roof for several days and is where they become lovers.

What does Ben improvise to revive Alex after she falls into freezing water in The Mountain Between Us?

An IV drip that Ben fashions himself rehydrates Alex, who lies unconscious after going through thin ice.

What catches Ben's leg just as he and Alex near rescue in The Mountain Between Us?

A bear trap snaps shut on Ben's leg, and Alex cannot free him, so she has to go on alone for help.

What kind of workplace does Alex stagger into to raise the alarm in The Mountain Between Us?

A timber yard is where the trek ends: the dog senses it first, and Alex collapses in front of an oncoming truck.

What job has Alex taken up when she and Ben meet again at the end of The Mountain Between Us?

A teacher, and only part-time: Alex also tells Ben she could not go through with her wedding.

Which star of Prometheus and Shame was announced as the doctor in The Mountain Between Us back in 2012?

Michael Fassbender had dropped out by September 2014, the first of several lead changes before the film was finally shot.

Which Sons of Anarchy star took over the male lead of The Mountain Between Us in 2014, then dropped out?

Charlie Hunnam stayed attached for more than a year before leaving in December 2015, and Idris Elba signed on two months later.

Which Australian actress was attached as the female lead of The Mountain Between Us but left the project in 2014?

Margot Robbie had left by November 2014, two years before the cameras rolled, and Kate Winslet was the third actress lined up for the part.

Which Gone Girl star was in talks for the female lead of The Mountain Between Us but never made the film?

Rosamund Pike entered negotiations in late 2014 and left the project a year later, before Kate Winslet took the part.

The trailer for The Mountain Between Us used Dusk Till Dawn, a duet by Sia and which One Direction alumnus?

Zayn Malik released the single in the same week as the film's festival premiere, and it reached the UK top five.

In the novel behind The Mountain Between Us, what is the surname of the doctor renamed Ben Bass on screen?

Payne is the doctor's name on the page, and the woman stranded with him was given a new name for the film as well.

Which co-writer of Rogue One shares the screenplay credit for The Mountain Between Us with J. Mills Goodloe?

Chris Weitz was hired to rework a script that had been in development for years; he had earlier co-directed About a Boy.

Which Australian cinematographer, later Oscar-nominated for Elvis, shot The Mountain Between Us?

Mandy Walker later became the first woman to win the American Society of Cinematographers' award for a feature film.

Which Hollywood studio released The Mountain Between Us in cinemas in October 2017?

20th Century Fox first dated the film for October 20, then moved it forward by two weeks.

The Mountain Between Us strands its survivors in the High Uintas Wilderness, in which US state?

Utah's High Uintas Wilderness contains Kings Peak, the state's highest summit, and other peaks above 13,000 feet.

Which chewy sweets did Kate Winslet and Idris Elba call their acting pills while making The Mountain Between Us?

Wine gums were part of a hidden sweet supply the two stars shared, along with heat packs, at around 3,000 metres up.

Idris Elba's surgeon in The Mountain Between Us is based in Baltimore, the setting of which HBO drama starring Elba?

The Wire made Elba's name as Stringer Bell, and one reviewer joked about whether that character had gone to medical school.

To which city is the charter plane in The Mountain Between Us heading when it goes down in the mountains?

Denver was only meant to be a stopover, where the two strangers hoped to pick up onward connections east.

Where do Ben and Alex shelter for the night after hiking down to the tree line in The Mountain Between Us?

In a cave, their first night away from the wreck, after Alex forces the issue by starting down the mountain alone.

What is Alex called in the novel behind The Mountain Between Us, where she writes for women's magazines?

Ashley Knox is a magazine columnist in the book, and it is the doctor who offers her a seat on his charter.