Ten films that defined modern cinema, from The Godfather and Back to the Future to Pulp Fiction, Forrest Gump, The Shawshank Redemption, The Matrix and Inception, with the production chaos and happy accidents behind them.
Some films do more than entertain: they change how movies are made and remembered. This collection looks behind the scenes of ten of them, from Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather in 1972 to Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street in 2013. Along the way come the 1980s time-travel classic Back to the Future, the extraordinary year of 1994 that produced Pulp Fiction, Forrest Gump and The Shawshank Redemption, the Stephen King drama The Green Mile, the sci-fi landmarks The Matrix and Inception, and the French hit The Intouchables.
Their production stories are often as dramatic as the films. Al Pacino was nearly fired from The Godfather, Eric Stoltz filmed Marty McFly for six weeks before being replaced by Michael J. Fox, and the Back to the Future script was rejected more than forty times. Stephen King sold the rights to his Shawshank novella for a single dollar, and the film itself flopped at the box office before becoming one of the most beloved movies ever made.
Many famous moments were improvised or achieved with simple tricks. Clemenza's cannoli line was unscripted, the glowing briefcase in Pulp Fiction was just a light bulb, the Matrix's green code was made of sushi recipes, and Inception's rotating hallway fight used no CGI at all. Matthew McConaughey invented the chest-thumping ritual in The Wolf of Wall Street on the spot.
Pick a film below and read fifteen facts about how it was made.
Every item on this page, with the one fact most people get wrong about it.
| Name | Where you'll meet it | The fact worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| The Godfather | Francis Ford Coppola, 1972 | The horse head scene used a real head from a slaughterhouse. |
| Forrest Gump | Robert Zemeckis, 1994 | Tom Hanks took profit points instead of a salary and earned an estimated $60-70 million. |
| The Shawshank Redemption | Frank Darabont, 1994 | Stephen King sold the film rights for a single dollar. |
| The Green Mile | Frank Darabont, 1999 | More than fifteen mice played Mr. Jingles. |
| Inception | Christopher Nolan, 2010 | The rotating hallway fight was filmed without digital CGI. |
| The Intouchables | France, 2011 | It sold more than nineteen million cinema tickets in France. |
| The Wolf of Wall Street | Martin Scorsese, 2013 | Matthew McConaughey improvised the famous chest-thumping ritual. |
| Pulp Fiction | Quentin Tarantino, 1994 | The glowing briefcase was just a light bulb. |
| Back to the Future | Robert Zemeckis, 1985 | The time machine was originally going to be a refrigerator. |
| The Matrix | The Wachowskis, 1999 | The famous green code is actually made of sushi recipes. |
Best Actor Gamble
$60-70 million
Tom Hanks swapped a salary for profit points on Forrest Gump and earned an estimated $60-70 million. Forrest Gump
Most Profanity
569 times
The Wolf of Wall Street set a record for a mainstream feature, with the F-word spoken 569 times. The Wolf of Wall Street
Cheapest Film Rights
$1
Stephen King sold the rights to his Shawshank novella to Frank Darabont for a single dollar. The Shawshank Redemption
Biggest French Hit
19 million+ tickets
The Intouchables sold more than nineteen million cinema tickets in France. The Intouchables
Francis Ford Coppola, 1972
The word "Mafia" was deliberately left out of the script, and Al Pacino was nearly fired early in production. A stray cat in the opening scene almost ruined the audio, while Clemenza's cannoli line was improvised. Its sequel became the first sequel ever to win Best Picture.
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Robert Zemeckis, 1994
The original novel was far darker than the film, and Tom Hanks' younger brother served as his running double. Kurt Russell secretly voiced Elvis, and the ping-pong balls were entirely computer-generated. The film won six Academy Awards.
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Frank Darabont, 1994
Red was originally written as a white Irishman, and Morgan Freeman threw a baseball for nine hours straight for one scene. The sewer pipe was filled with chocolate syrup and sawdust. The film bombed in cinemas before becoming one of the highest-rated films of all time.
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Frank Darabont, 1999
Bruce Willis helped get Michael Clarke Duncan cast as John Coffey, and forced perspective made Duncan look even bigger. Stephen King sat in the replica electric chair and called it his most faithful adaptation. Louisiana did not actually use the electric chair in 1935.
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Christopher Nolan, 2010
Inception was first pitched as a horror film, and Cobb's team mirrors a film crew. Its soundtrack is built from a slowed-down Édith Piaf song, with guitar by Johnny Marr. The Penrose staircase was built as a real physical illusion.
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France, 2011
Based on a true friendship, the film earned Omar Sy the 2012 César for Best Actor. François Cluzet had to restrain his physical performance to play a quadriplegic. The story was later remade in English as The Upside.
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Martin Scorsese, 2013
Jonah Hill accepted the minimum union salary to work with Scorsese and was hospitalised after snorting vitamin powder. Margot Robbie won her role by slapping Leonardo DiCaprio, and a real lion was brought onto the trading floor. The F-word is used a record 569 times.
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Quentin Tarantino, 1994
Jules' Ezekiel 25:17 speech is mostly invented, and the adrenaline shot was filmed in reverse. Tarantino's car was stolen during filming, and Daniel Day-Lewis fought for the role of Vincent. The film became a huge hit on a tiny budget.
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Robert Zemeckis, 1985
The script was rejected more than forty times, and a studio boss wanted to call it "Spaceman from Pluto". Eric Stoltz played Marty for six weeks before Michael J. Fox replaced him. Huey Lewis made a secret cameo rejecting his own song.
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The Wachowskis, 1999
Bullet time required 120 still cameras, and Keanu Reeves trained for months in a neck brace. The cast had to read dense philosophical texts before filming. Will Smith turned down Neo to make Wild Wild West.
Read the full article →8 questions, every answer is somewhere above.
1. Which word was deliberately left out of The Godfather's script?
2. Who secretly voiced Elvis Presley in Forrest Gump?
3. What filled the sewer pipe that Andy crawls through in The Shawshank Redemption?
4. Which actor helped get Michael Clarke Duncan cast in The Green Mile?
5. Which singer's song is slowed down to form the Inception soundtrack?
6. What was inside the glowing briefcase in Pulp Fiction?
7. What was the time machine in Back to the Future originally going to be?
8. What is the green code in The Matrix actually made of?
In one year audiences got Pulp Fiction, Forrest Gump and The Shawshank Redemption. Forrest Gump swept the Oscars with six wins, Pulp Fiction became a huge hit on a tiny budget, and Shawshank flopped at first before becoming one of the most beloved films of all time.
No. Eric Stoltz filmed the role for six weeks before being fired. Michael J. Fox then shot the film at the same time as his TV series Family Ties, often on just three hours of sleep.
Yes. Will Smith passed on the role of Neo to make Wild Wild West, and Keanu Reeves went on to train for months in a neck brace for the part.
Yes. It is based on the friendship between a wealthy quadriplegic aristocrat and his young caregiver. The real man behind the film appears near the end, and the story was later remade in English as The Upside.
Christopher Nolan has left it deliberately ambiguous. Many viewers read it as Cobb's emotional acceptance: he no longer cares whether the spinning top falls. Some fans argue his wedding ring, not the top, is his real totem.
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