Did You Know That...?

Intro

In today's Original we present you a new format! This time we introduce you to exciting, funny and above all informative facts about your favorite movies. Today we will talk about "Avatar", "Pirates of the Caribbean", "Men in Black" and many other blockbusters. We hope you enjoy our new Original episode!

Avatar

Did you know that the theatrical release of James Cameron's "Avatar 2: The Way of Water" is coming no less than 13 years after the release of the first part? What made "Avatar" so special back then was not so much the story, but rather the technology and perfection with which the film was produced. In order to achieve the most realistic representation of Pandora's fauna, the audio engineers used a variety of sounds from real animals. For the menacing viperwolf, for example, they used hyenas and coyotes, while for the ambient sounds of tropical Pandora they relied on a wide range of sounds from Costa Rica and Africa.

The 13-year wait is almost ridiculous when you consider the production time of the blockbuster. In fact, James Cameron began writing the first script for "Avatar" back in the 1970s. In the following decades, Cameron kept developing new ideas for his pet project. However, he decided to hold off on filming until the state of technology would enable the realization of the ambitious film. This effort is evident in every minute of the movie, whether it be the invention of a completely new language and new instruments, the then record-breaking costs of 237 million US dollars or the revolutionary 3D technology: "Avatar" was definitely ahead of its time and it will be exciting to see how Cameron's sequel "Avatar: The Way of Water" will be received by the audience on December 16, 2022.

Pirates of the Carribean

Did you know that the "Pirates of the Caribbean" film series has a special place in Johnny Depp's filmography? The first part was the great financial stepping stone for the gifted actor. For "Pirates of the Caribbean 2 & 3" Depp earned 20 million US dollars each, in the fifth and so far last part his salary is said to have even increased up to 90 million US dollars.

And yet a different Hollywood star was almost cast in the role of Captain Jack Sparrow. In addition to Robert DeNiro, who deemed the film a flop and turned down the role, Jim Carrey, Matthew McConaughey and Hugh Jackman were also in talks for the lead role. However, Johnny Depp was obviously able to convince those responsible at the end of the day. Disney, by the way, was just as skeptical about the success of the first part as Robert de Niro. Funnily enough, the movie was not based on a thrilling book series, but on a ride of the same name at Disney World. As a result, few were convinced that it would go down well with viewers. On top of that, the pirate genre was not really enjoying much success in the early 2000s. But once the pirate movie was so well-received by fans and critics, Disney World revamped the ride entirely to reflect the movie. Since then, the characters from the movies have also been featured there. Fans have been waiting for a worthy conclusion to the film series with Part 6 ever since the disappointing fifth part. A while ago, however, Depp rejected the idea of returning to Disney, as he told NBC News through a representative that he would not even come back for 300 million US dollars and a million alpacas...

Avengers: Endgame

Did you know that the opening scene of "Avengers: Endgame" was initially planned as the end sequence of "Avengers: Infinity War", but was then found to be too confusing by the Russo brothers? It probably did not hurt the final Avengers film, as "Endgame" is the second highest-grossing film of all time after "Avatar". The penultimate movie of Phase 3 of the MCU allows the plot events of the MCU movies of that time to come together and provides a huge spectacle with all kinds of epic scenes. The battle at the end of the film alone took 16 weeks of production time and the expertise of 1400 visual effects artists. In fact, 16 weeks is an incredibly short period of time for such an elaborate scene, so that's reason enough to watch the movie again and pay close attention to every little detail in the fight against Thanos! However, we have another fun fact about the final scene: the very last scene that was finalized is the one where Tony Stark performs his fateful snap. Apparently, the special effects team finished said scene just two weeks before the world premiere in April 2019 - that's a pretty remarkable way of meeting a deadline. Overall, "Avengers: Endgame" ranks as one of the best films of its kind, which is definitely apparent from its box office takings of almost $2.8 billion.

Men in Black

Did you know that the "Men in Black" almost looked completely different? In the franchise, Will Smith starred as Agent J in one of his most iconic roles ever. Thanks to the remarkable chemistry between him and his co-star Tommy Lee Jones, the first installment was one of the most successful buddy comedies of all time, grossing $590 million. And yet the two actors almost failed to commit themselves to the project: Originally, Clint Eastwood was supposed to take on the role of Agent K, and "Friends" star David Schwimmer the role of Agent J. In the end, it was director Barry Sonnenfeld who thought that the role of the serious Agent K was better suited to Jones than to Western legend Eastwood. Schwimmer, however, was simply not interested in the role and therefore both Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones got cast.

The third megastar is known and loved by just about everyone, and he regularly upstages Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith: We are talking about Mushu, the pug from "Men in Black". In his role as Frank, he was so compelling that one would almost have to invent a dog Oscar for his performance. But joking aside, unfortunately Mushu only survived two of the four "Men in Black" movies. About five years passed between parts 1 and 2, which is not really a long period of time for human actors, but for Mushu it was literally half a lifetime. This was also the reason why Mushu, like his fellow actors, needed to be made up before the scenes, in order to paint over his graying hair. In addition, the dog exclusively traveled business class during the filming, was allowed to sleep in the same bed as his trainer, and also only drank bottled water. So you could say that he made his acting pay dearly. Incidentally, the film series celebrates its 25th anniversary this year! So in case you still need an occasion to rewatch the film series: Here it is!

Thor: Love and Thunder

Did you know that the much-loved God of Thunder Thor was nearly not played by Chris Hemsworth, but by his brother Liam Hemsworth? Both of them were at least competing for the title role, and the result is known. But we assume that it has not harmed the brotherly love. "Thor: Love and Thunder" has been in theaters since early July, so there's hardly a better time to take a look at the film series. Chris Hemsworth's pictures of the physical preparation for "Thor 4" have become somewhat legendary. However, the actor already had to undergo an intensive training schedule for the first part. The training was so successful that Hemsworth did not even fit into the previously measured costume of Thor, because his arms and legs had become too muscular. Co-star Tom Hiddleston also had to put in a lot of work for the role of Loki. Unlike Hemsworth, Hiddleston had to lose weight to give Loki a thin, striking face. In addition, the 41-year-old Brit practiced the Brazilian martial art of capoeira and took his inspiration not only from the comic book, but also from the appearance of three actors: Peter O'Toole's recklessness, Jack Nicholson's craziness and Clint Eastwood's fury. The end result, as with the "Loki" series, is clearly worth watching. Meanwhile, "Thor" is the only movie series to dedicate a total of four solo movies to a single MCU character. This means that Thor has even surpassed the "Iron Man" film series. "Thor: Love and Thunder" has been on the big screen since July 8, so hurry up and watch the three previous parts before you head to the movies!

Sonic the Hedgehog

Did you know that Sonic the Hedgehog turned 30 last year? In fact, one of the most famous video game characters of all times has now also conquered the big screen. So we would like to present you some interesting facts from the two movies. For example, did you know that Jim Carrey's role as Dr. Robotnik only feels so damn authentic because Carrey took very little dialogue from the script? The 60-year-old, now retired from acting, improvised most of the scenes in his legendary Jim Carrey way, including the dance scene. By the way, a great influence on his acceptance for the role of the antagonist was not only his acting agent, but above all his own daughter Jane. She was such a big fan of Sonic in her childhood that her father simply had to accept the role for nostalgic reasons.

Moreover, did you know that Sonic's speed varies greatly at times throughout the film? As producer Tim Miller confirmed, the speed changes frequently because Sonic is constantly evolving in the story and can thus better assess his superpower.

Last but not least, we would like to address the iconic first trailer that Paramount released back in the day. We all recall the huge shitstorm and the subsequent remodeling of the character, which simply looked too little like Sonic and too much like a human in a fur costume. However, did you know that this faux pas caused Paramount's production costs to skyrocket by a whopping $5 million? In hindsight, it was a really pricey trailer flop. "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" was released in April this year and is now available for purchase on some video on demand providers.

Outro

Okay, that's it for now with our background information. Did you dig our new format? Please leave us a comment and a thumbs up if you want to see more videos like this in the future. And feel free to let us know which movies you would like to see included next time. Thanks for watching, take care!