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

10. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Did you know? James Cameron managed to avoid having to fork out for extensive CGI in the scene where the T-1000 mimics John Connor's mother and we see two Sarahs onscreen at the same time. Actress Linda Hamilton has an identical twin sister, Leslie, who appears in that scene and another deleted scene where the T-800 has his CPU chip tweaked.

9. Blade Runner (1982)

Did you know? The title has nothing to do with the Philip K. Dick story the film is based on where Deckard is referred to as a bounty hunter. When the film's screenwriter Hampton Fancher discovered a William Burroughs script called The Blade Runner, based on Alan E. Nourse's 1974 novel, Ridley Scott fell in love with the name. The term blade runner refers to a supplier of black market scalpels in a dystopian future.

8. Psycho (1960)

Did you know? Screenwriter Joseph Stefano was utterly obsessed with showing a flushing toilet on film for the first time. Hey, we've all got our quirks. But director Alfred Hitchcock would only allow it if there was a real reason in the script. Stefano returned to his typewriter and rewrote the script to include a scene where Marion Crane needs to destroy written evidence of her theft.

7. Spider-Man (2002)

Did you know? The car driven by Uncle Ben is Sam Raimi's lucky Oldsmobile Delta 88. This legendary vehicle manages to make its way into every one of the director's movies. It's either driven by characters or appears in the background. It's even included (allegedly) in his pre-automobile western, The Quick And The Dead.

6. Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Did you know? Stanley Kubrick filmed an ending in which the end of the world was symbolised by a custard pie fight in the War Room. The director cut it because the tone was too jovial; according to the son of screenwriter Terry Southern, as soon as the actors started laughing, the footage became unusable.

5. The Usual Suspects (1995)

Did you know? The line-up scene was meant to be played utterly serious and straight. But as the scene unfolded the actors' corpsing - breaking into genuine laughter - led an exasperated Bryan Singer to change tack and (unlike Kubrick in Dr. Strangelove) use the funniest takes. Why were they laughing? Benicio Del Toro had hideous flatulence and wouldn't stop breaking wind.

4. Carrie (1976)

Did you know? Auditions were held jointly with the auditions for a little sci-fi movie by up-and-comer George Lucas. As Brian De Palma and Lucas are friends, they decided to run a two-fer audition that nearly saw Carrie Fisher land the role of the telekinetic teen and Amy Irving the part of Princess Leia. As it turned out, Fisher nabbed Leia, Irving played Sue Snell, and Sissy Spacek played Carrie. 

3. There Will Be Blood (2007)

Did you know? The film was shot at the same time, and in neighbouring Texan locations, to No Country For Old Men. At one point, the smoke from the burning oil derrick caused such a scene that it ruined the shot then being filmed by the Coen brothers and forcing a day's delay to their shoot.

2. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Did you know? If it hadn't been for a bout of dysentery, Indiana Jones would have fought against an Arab swordsman. As Harrison Ford was too ill and too tired to go through a lengthy round of hand-to-hand combat - that would have demanded multiple takes - he suggested to Steven Spielberg that Indy simply shoot the maniac. 

1. Taxi Driver (1976)

Did you know? Robert De Niro's most iconic moment as Travis Bickle, the troubled NYC cabbie, is undoubtedly the "You talkin' to me?" scene. That entire thing was improvised by De Niro from a single line in Paul Schrader's screenplay, which simply says: Bickle speaks to himself in the mirror.