smooth sailing

smooth sailing
idiomatic phrase
: easy progress without impediment or difficulty
After the mix-up was rectified, it was smooth sailing again.
—Mike Brown
He just kept talking and talking his nonstop sunny talk about what a great summer we were going to have and that he had tons of plans and that we would get caught up as father and son and soon all our rough past would be behind us and we would have nothing but smooth sailing for our future.
—Jack Ganto


hat doesn’t mean it was totally smooth-sailing

and it wasn’t always smooth sailing.

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According to the Mash Fandom, the two had a particularly heated relationship, often clashing over the smallest things. Still, it appears Burghoff and Alda have let bygones be bygones as, in 2021, the latter tweeted out a sweet birthday message to his former co-star, indicating that whatever feud existed is over now.

103. Louis C.K. Tried To Get S.N.L. To Fire Pete Davidson
Project: Saturday Night Live (2014-2022)
Est. Production Budget: $25,000 per episode* (Main Cast Salary)
Est. Box Office Gross: N/A

In what would later become one of his funniest routines, Pete Davidson described how Louis C.K. had tried to get him fired when he worked on Saturday Night Live. Ironically, Louis C.K. would later become disgraced after word of his inappropriate actions with female comedians surfaced.

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According to Davidson, C.K. disliked how much cannabis he used, and he took that dislike far enough that he spoke to executive producer Lorne Michaels about it. C.K.’s attempt failed, as Davidson stayed with the show until 2022.

104. Because of LoTR, Viggo Mortensen Became An Expert Swordsman
Project: Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Est. Production Budget: $93 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $898.2 million*

Both in novel and in book form, Lord of the Rings is epic. The actors and actresses who starred in the trilogy had to undergo a lot of training to perform their roles, and, for Viggo Mortensen, that meant becoming an expert swordsman.

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Mortensen had a talent for it naturally, with the film’s swordmaster calling him the “best swordsman [he] ever trained.” Not only is Aragorn one of folklore’s greatest swordsmen, it appears that his talent rubbed off onto the actor who played him. 

105. Sigourney Weaver Gave Herself The Nickname “Rambolina” On Set
Project: Aliens (1986)
Est. Production Budget: $18.5 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $184.7 million*

Aliens was a rip-roaring, action-packed, alien-horror movie that burst onto the scene in the eighties. The franchise would later be worth billions of dollars, making its lead actress, Sigourney Weaver, a true action hero.

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As a joking homage to Sylvester Stallone, Weaver gave herself an amusing nickname on-set: Rambolina. Ripley would earn Weaver worldwide recognition, with the role becoming her most famous so far in her career (though her parts in Avatar and Ghostbusters are not far behind).

106. Robin Williams Was Terrified By The Blanks Going Off In Jumanji
Project: Jumanji (1995)
Est. Production Budget: $65 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $262.8 million*

Robin Williams played Alan Parrish in Jumanji, an adult man who, as a boy, gets trapped within the game and emerges confused and scared. Though Williams was a hard-to-handle force of comedic energy, he kept his improv in check for this serious role.

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Williams was great to work with on-set, protecting his younger castmates from having to work too-long hours and seeming to really get the core of the movie. That doesn’t mean it was totally smooth-sailing for him, though. Apparently, Williams was terrified of the guns on-set, even though they shot blanks only. 

107. Neve Campbell Was Attacked By A Bear On The Set of Tales of the Wild
Project: Tales of the Wild (1994)
Est. Production Budget: Undisclosed
Est. Box Office Gross: N/A

In 2022, Neve Campbell had all of us shocked when she talked about getting attacked by a bear while filming Tales of the Wild (she never said the name of the project, but, based on the plot, that was likely what it is).

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Apparently, during shooting, Campbell was told to dunk her hand in a vat of honey and run to get the stunt bear to chase her. She obliged, but the animal was too quick for her, grabbing her by the leg and dragging her through the forest until his trainer threw rocks at him to get him to let her go. 

108. Peter O’Toole Got Drunk And Almost Died Falling Off A Camel
Project: Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Est. Production Budget: $15 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $70 million*

Peter O’Toole was a famously hard-drinker, and he took those antics with him to work. Though the shot of him riding a camel in Lawrence of Arabia is an iconic image, that stunt was almost nearly fatal for the veteran actor.

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Apparently, he had one too many and tried to climb onto a camel to shoot the riding scene. He did something to displease the animal, which stands at around six feet in height, and it bucked him off. Luckily, O’Toole was unharmed (mostly), but he did call the camels “impossible” to work with.

109. The Cast of Star Trek Couldn’t Stand William Shatner
Project: Star Trek (1966-1969)
Est. Production Budget: $190,000 per episode*
Est. Box Office Gross: N/A

Though a few of his castmates did enjoy his company, fans will be shocked to know that the cast of Star Trek mostly couldn’t stand William Shatner, who played Captain Kirk on the hit sci-fi series. According to Takei, Shatner was “self-involved,” expecting everyone to “kowtow to him” during shooting.

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Leonard Nimoy also had issues with Shater later on in his life, and the two weren’t speaking at the time of his passing. The feud was so bad that Shatner, who has no regrets, didn’t even attend Nimoy’s funeral.

110. Faye Dunaway Threw A Cup Of Pee Into Roman Polanski’s Face
Project: Chinatown (1974)
Est. Production Budget: $6 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $29.2 million*

Well, that’s one way to get your point across. Actress Faye Dunaway and director Roman Polanski were both infamously hard to work with, and when the two collaborated on Chinatown in 1974, the movie was a powder keg.

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Dunaway and Polanski fought the whole time, with things coming to a head when the latter plucked a hair from the former’s head because he thought it was astray. Later, Polanski claimed Dunaway got her revenge by throwing a cup of urine into his face when he told her she couldn’t have a bathroom break.

111. Lucy Liu Got Into A Physical Altercation With Bill Murray
Project: Charlie’s Angels (2001)
Est. Production Budget: $93 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $264.1 million*

As time has gone on, opinions about Bill Murray have become more mixed, with some finding the actor to be a delight and others thinking he’s a nightmare. To be fair, there are quite a few stories of Murray behaving badly, and one of his movies was even canceled because of his antics.

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Lucy Liu and Bill Murray starred in Charlie’s Angels together, and they got into it when Murray stopped filming to tell Liu she couldn’t act. Incensed, Liu blew a gasket, attacking Murray and throwing punches at him. Needless to say, the pair did not work well together.

112. Tony Kaye Tried To Change His Name To “Humpty Dumpty”
Project: American History X (1998)
Est. Production Budget: $20 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $23.9 million*

American History X is a tour de force of a film, with the racial drama achieving acclaim when it hit theaters in 1998. Its director, Tony Kaye, was reportedly very difficult on-set, calling star Edward Norton a “narcissist” who couldn’t act.

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During editing, Kaye and Norton fought so much that the former was banned from the editing room. In a weird twist, Kaye tried to legally change his name to Humpty Dumpty, so the subtitle of the movie would read, “A Humpty Dumpty Film.” When the studio tried to call everyone in to meet about the conflicts, Kaye brought a priest, monk, and rabbi with him and refused to talk.

113. The Blair Witch Project Had An Unusual Production Style
Project: The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Est. Production Budget: $60,000*
Est. Box Office Gross: $248.6 million*

The Blair Witch Project was the gold standard for “found footage” horror, and it’s been hard to find a horror movie, shot in the same style, that measures up the original 1999 film. The Blair Witch project was directed by two unorthodox directors, Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez.

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They took three unknown actors and gave them video cameras, sending them into the woods. The directors had set up different stations for filming, but it was largely up to the actors to improvise their lines and make their way from place to place.

114. Producers Of Poltergeist Used Real Human Skeletons
Project: Poltergeist (1982)
Est. Production Budget: $35 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $95.4 million*

Snopes fact-checked this one, so you know it’s true. There were a lot of crazy things that went down while filming the movie Poltergeist, and some fans and actors believe the set was actually haunted because of its subject matter and the strange events that occurred during filming.

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Poltergeist’s directors certainly tried to keep everyone on-edge. For example, they used real human skeletons for filming, as those were more cost-effective than making realistic plastic ones. Of course, actress JoBeth Williams never knew the skeletons were real until filming had concluded.

115. Everything Was A “No” With Katherine Heigl
Project: Life As We Know It (2010)
Est. Production Budget: $38 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $105.71 million*

Katherine Heigl has gotten a reputation in Hollywood of being incredibly hard to work with. While filming Life As We Know It, a 2010 comedy, insiders working on the movie said that they saw her create “desperately difficult situations” during shooting, costing people “time every single day.”

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Set insiders alleged to Hollywood Reporter that everything was a “no” with Heigl, from wardrobe issues to her refusing to leave her trailer. It was even hard for the studio to close the movie deal with her in the first place.

116. Everyone Was Afraid of Gene Hackman
Project: The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Est. Production Budget: $21 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $71.4 million*

Gene Hackman’s on-set behavior has long been highly-controversial, and he was so malicious on the set of The Royal Tenenbaums that even the director, Wes Anderson, said he was afraid of him (Anjelica Huston and Gwyneth Paltrow also said they were scared of Hackman).

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Hackman clashed frequently with Anderson, calling him horrendous names and making lewd remarks. His explosive temper led to him and his co-stars not speaking after Tenenbaums finished filming, with Hackman refusing to show up to any reunion events.

117. Michael Myers Threatened to Quit Wayne’s World Because There Was No Margarine
Project: Wayne’s World (1992)
Est. Production Budget: $20 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $183.1 million*

It’s hard to reconcile Michael Myers’ personality in Wayne’s World with his reported on-set actions. According to director Penelope Spheeris, Myers was very hard to work with on the 1992 comedy, throwing temper tantrums over the smallest things.

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According to Spheeries, Myers was on the phone with his agent for “hours,” swearing that he was going to quit the movie because there was no margarine on-set. Diva behavior from Myers was also reported on the set of Cat in the Hat, too.

118. Julia Roberts Earned Herself The Nickname “Tinkerhell”
Project: Hook (1991)
Est. Production Budget: $70 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $300.9 million*

Julia Roberts doesn’t have a lot of bad publicity alleging diva behavior, except when she played Tinkerbell in Hook. At the time she made the movie, she was twenty-three years old, and she had just gone through a bad breakup with Kiefer Sutherland.

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Roberts was pretty emotionally volatile on-set, with Steven Spielberg nicknaming her “Tinkerhell” for her antics. That bad filming experience in the nineties ended up causing a decades-long feud between the two, who still will not work together to this day.

119. Jane Fonda Had To Yell At Lindsay Lohan While Filming Georgia Rule
Project: Georgia Rule (2007)
Est. Production Budget: $20 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $25 million*

Lindsay Lohan has had her challenges, as we all know. The actress started in Hollywood when she was a child, and she went through a lot of public meltdowns and addictions that led to her career stalling.

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One of the last movies she made was Georgia Rule, a movie in which she starred alongside Jane Fonda and Felicity Huffman. Fonda later claimed Lohan was extremely hard to work with, with her behavior reaching the point that Fonda yelled at her in front of the entire cast and crew for being repeatedly late.

120. Over 1,700 Gallons of Fake Blood Were Used In Evil Dead Rise
Project: Evil Dead Rise (2023)
Est. Production Budget: $19 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $46.9 million*

If you know anything about the horror franchise Evil Dead, then you know that those movies are all about blood, guts, and gore. Evil Dead Rise, the latest installment that was released in 2023, used 1,700 gallons of fake movie blood during filming.

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According to the director, that fake blood was “sticky and cooked,” and it actually became “its own character,” of a sort. This number pales in comparison to the Evil Dead remake in 2013, as directors on that movie used 70,000 gallons during filming.

121. Joss Whedon Hated The First Avengers Screenplay
Project: The Avengers (2012)
Est. Production Budget: $220 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $1.519 billion*

The Avengers was a smash-hit for Marvel, grossing well over $1 billion at the box office and setting in motion the M.C.U.’s reputation for high-quality, entertaining films. According to Joss Whedon, the movie’s director, the entire script had to be re-written in order for Avengers to do as well as it did.

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Whedon told M.C.U. head Kevin Feige that he “hated” the Avengers script, calling it a disaster. He told Feige this before he even became the director, though it appears Feige believed he was right. He not only made Whedon the director; Whedon got the script totally rewritten to his liking.

122. While Filming Harry Potter & The Chamber Of Secrets, Bella the Mastiff Became Daniel Radcliffe’s Guardian
Project: Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets (2002)
Est. Production Budget: $100 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $879.8 million*

Bella was a Neopolitan Mastiff who played Hagrid’s beloved dog, Fang, during the first two movies. Apparently, Bella took a liking to star actor Daniel Radcliffe, becoming his protective guardian during shoots.

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While Filming Harry Potter & The Chamber Of Secrets, Bella the Mastiff Became Daniel Radcliffe’s Guardian ©Anton_Ivanov/Shutterstock.comWhile Filming Harry Potter & The Chamber Of Secrets, Bella the Mastiff Became Daniel Radcliffe’s Guardian ©Anton_Ivanov/Shutterstock.com
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While filming the “follow the spiders” forest scene in Chamber of Secrets, whenever the giant fake animatronic Aragog would jump out at Radcliffe, Bella would grow incensed, springing forward to defend the young actor. Scenes had to be re-filmed several times as a result.

123. Psycho Was Shot With Cameras That Mimic Normal Human Vision
Project: Psycho (1960)
Est. Production Budget: $806,947*
Est. Box Office Gross: $50 million*

Released in 1960, Psycho was one of the greatest horror movies of all time, setting a new standard among twentieth century filmmakers. The slasher flick was directed by Alfred Hitchcock, who left no stone unturned in his attempt to unsettle the viewer.

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He dictated everything down to the last detail, even using a 50mm lens on 35mm cameras. This mimicked, to an extent, normal human vision, turning viewers into voyeurs—exactly Hitchcock’s intention.

124. Filming Went Awry During Requiem For A Dream Because The Cameraman Was Crying
Project: Requiem For A Dream (2000)
Est. Production Budget: $4.5 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $7.4 million*

Requiem for a Dream is a movie that is not made for the faint of heart. It is emotionally devastating and terrifying, and the 2000 drama was made by acclaimed director Darren Aronofsky, who is known for his disturbing projects.

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In Requiem, Ellen Burstyn gives a moving monologue about growing older, and, during the scene, the camera’s vision is shaky. This was unintentional—apparently, the cameraman was so moved by Burstyn’s speech, he began crying quietly while she spoke, causing the camera to drift off-center.

125. Jennifer Lopez Refused To Speak Directly With Anyone On The Set Of What To Expect…
Project: What To Expect When You’re Expecting (2012)
Est. Production Budget: $30-$40 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $84.4 million*

Though Jennifer Lopez denies this claim vehemently, the same story has been told about her for years. People claim that Lopez won’t “lower herself” to speak to other people if she doesn’t have to, whether these people are flight attendants or set assistants.

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According to people who worked with J. Lo on What To Expect When You’re Expecting, the actress and singer refused to speak to anyone directly, clamming up on set and forcing everyone to talk to her through a proxy.

126. The Director of The Conjuring Encountered Two Ghosts While Filming In Romania
Project: The Conjuring (2013)
Est. Production Budget: $20 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $319.5 million*

The Conjuring’s filming was long rumored to have hauntings and paranormal experiences, and director Corin Hardy revealed that he, like the movie’s stars, had his own weird ghost sightings while filming in Romania.

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Hardy was filming in a fortress in Romania when he says that he saw a couple of men sitting on a sealed-off part of the set. He acknowledged them, but they didn’t reply. A short while later, he turned back to find them, and they were gone, even though there had been no way in or out of the place where he’d seen them sitting.   

127. Charlize Theron Was Terrified Of Tom Hardy
Project: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Est. Production Budget: $185.1 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $415.2 million*

Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy are two in-demand actors, and they paired up to work on Mad Max: Fury Road together. The movie’s filming was intense, and that intensity was only ratcheted up by the feud between Theron and Hardy.

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According to Theron, she felt threatened by Hardy’s “bad behavior,” so much so that she required protection while on set. To add fuel to the fire, Theron also accused producers of forgiving Hardy’s lateness and attitude because of his gender.    

128. Alan Alda Had A Heated Relationship With This Co-Star
Project: M*A*S*H (1972-1983)
Est. Production Budget: Undisclosed
Est. Box Office Gross: N/A

This rumor has been swirling around the M*A*S*H universe for years. The popular 1970s military-themed show starred Alan Alda, Gary Burghoff, and a host of other A-list television actors. Burghoff and Alda were on the show together for seven seasons, and it wasn’t always smooth sailing.

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According to the Mash Fandom, the two had a particularly heated relationship, often clashing over the smallest things. Still, it appears Burghoff and Alda have let bygones be bygones as, in 2021, the latter tweeted out a sweet birthday message to his former co-star, indicating that whatever feud existed is over now.

129. Mickey Rourke’s Behavior on Angel Heart Got Him Blacklisted From Hollywood
Project: Angel Heart (1987)
Est. Production Budget: $18 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $17.2 million* (Domestic)

Mickey Rourke has long had a reputation for being hard to work with, though more-so in his younger acting years than his older ones. Earlier in his career, he worked on the movie Angel Heart with Alan Parker, the director.

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Parker called Rourke “dangerous” on-set because he acted like a “nightmare” and was very unpredictable. Even Rourke admitted that his behavior on set, which included saying acting “wasn’t [for] real men,” “burned…bridges” and caused him to be blacklisted in Hollywood as a result.

130. Debbie Reynolds Pushed Herself To Extremes In Singin’ In The Rain
Project: Singin’ In The Rain (1952)
Est. Production Budget: $2.54 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $7.2 million*

Debbie Reynolds didn’t have much experience as a dancer when she was cast in the 1952 musical Singin’ In The Rain. Gene Kelly, her co-star, wasn’t too fond of that fact, and he belittled her until she was found crying on set by a visiting Fred Astaire.

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Astaire offered to train Reynolds as a dancer, and she said that her feet bled after they finished the “Good Morning” number. The shoot lasted fifteen hours, and Reynolds later said that making Singin’ In The Rain was one of the “hardest” things she’d ever had to do, right up there with “childbirth.” 

131. Jack Haley’s Tin Man Makeup Nearly Killed Him
Project: The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Est. Production Budget: $2.77 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $1.5 million*

Though The Wizard of Oz might have seemed like a fairytale movie, there were a lot of dark, behind-the-scenes secrets. The filming, for example, was pretty hard on Jack Haley, whose Tin Man makeup almost killed him.

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The makeup for his costume was made from aluminum paste, which seeped into his eyes throughout shooting, later causing a dangerous infection. Haley’s eye infection was so serious, he eventually had to undergo surgery to fix it. 

132. Twilight Zone: The Movie Suffered A Dangerous Helicopter Incident
Project: Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)
Est. Production Budget: $10 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $42 million*

Produced by famed director Steven Spielberg, Twilight Zone: The Movie was an adaption of the classic horror TV series for the big screen. It enjoyed commercial success, though its critical reception was lukewarm. The movie was overshadowed by a horrible on-set incident that probably led to it being forgotten.

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Actor Vic Morrow and two young actors were fatally injured by a helicopter’s blades on set. The kid actors were hired in violation of safety laws, a fact that weighed heavily in the $200 million lawsuit the children’s families filed as a result. The suit settled in 1987.

133. Noah’s Ark’s Set Was Flooded With 600K Gallons Of Water
Project: Noah’s Ark (1928)
Est. Production Budget: $1.005 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $2.305 million*

During the transition from silent films to the “talkies,” Noah’s Ark emerged as one of the biggest films made in that period. The 1928 movie was epic, ambitious, and a major feather in the cap for the disaster genre. Michael Curtiz, its director, tried to make things as realistic as possible.

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While filming the most climatic scene of the movie, Curtiz flooded the set with 600,000 gallons of water. This was a disaster, as the flooding killed three extras and injured many others, including lead actress Dolores Costello, who came down with a serious case of pneumonia.

134. Alan Rickman Was Tricked During Die Hard
Project: Die Hard (1988)
Est. Production Budget: $28 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $141.5 million*

Christmas movie (yes, it is) Die Hard featured a lot of high-flying stunts, including one of the most climatic when Alan Rickman was dropped off the side of the building. Rickman was rigged to drop onto a blue safety mat for the scene, and there was supposed to be a countdown before they dropped him.

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The stunt workers dropped Rickman early, so as to trick him into having a genuine expression of shock as he fell. So, when you watch that scene and see the veteran actor looking stunned as he falls, that expression is 100% authentic.    

135. The Snakes Just Wouldn’t Cooperate on Raiders of the Lost Ark
Project: Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Est. Production Budget: $20 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $248.16 million*

The Indiana Jones franchise has grossed nearly $1 billion, if not more, with Raiders of the Lost Ark making up over $248 million of that gross. Steven Spielberg went all-out to ensure that the movie was as realistic as it could be.

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Live snakes, as well as some rubber ones, were used in the temple scene. Boas, pythons, and cobras were trained to appear alongside Harrison Ford in the tense action scene, but they weren’t too cooperative. For example, he snakes went towards the thrown torch when it was lit, causing Spielberg to complain, jokingly, that they were “ruining [his] movie.”    

136. Martin Scorsese’s Mother Made The Spaghetti In Goodfellas
Project: Goodfellas (1990)
Est. Production Budget: $25 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $47.1 million*

Goodfellas was a flashy mob movie that starred veteran actors Ray Liotta, Robert de Niro, Joe Pesci, and Paul Sorvino. Directed by Martin Scorsese, Goodfellas told the tale of Henry Hill (Liotta), a gangster who starts young and works himself upwards in the mafia ranks.

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Martin Scorsese’s Mother Made The Spaghetti In Goodfellas @manofmany/PinterestMartin Scorsese’s Mother Made The Spaghetti In Goodfellas @manofmany/Pinterest
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There were a lot of famous scenes in Goodfellas that movie buffs still quote today, including one of the mobsters gathered around the table eating spaghetti. The chef of that meal was Scorsese’s mother, who made the diner they all ate in that scene. 

137. Dustin Hoffman’s The Holiday Cameo Was Spur-Of-The-Moment
Project: The Holiday (2006)
Est. Production Budget: $85 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $205.8 million*

Fans of The Holiday will remember the seemingly-random cameo from Dustin Hoffman during the video rental store scene, where Jack Black starts singing “Mrs. Robinson” to Kate Winslet. The camera pans over, and we see Hoffman shaking his head.

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Dustin Hoffman’s The Holiday Cameo Was Spur-Of-The-Moment @Devaiseth /TwitterDustin Hoffman’s The Holiday Cameo Was Spur-Of-The-Moment @Devaiseth /Twitter
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The cameo was really random, as Hoffman knew The Holiday’s director, Nancy Meyers (who also wrote the film’s screenplay). He was in the area, stopped to say hello, and his bit appearance was written-in on the spot.      

138. Heath Ledger’s Dark Knight Detonator Scene Was Ad-Libbed
Project: The Dark Knight (2008)
Est. Production Budget: $185 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $1.006 billion*

In The Dark Knight, one of D.C.’s most successful films, we got to see Heath Ledger at his best. He played an incredible Joker, winning a posthumous Oscar for his work as the deranged, sometimes-funny, always-crazy psychopath.

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Heath Ledger’s Dark Knight Detonator Scene Was Ad-Libbed @hdwallpapers_/PinterestHeath Ledger’s Dark Knight Detonator Scene Was Ad-Libbed @hdwallpapers_/Pinterest
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When Ledger’s Joker is leaving the hospital, he pauses to fiddle with a detonator that was supposed to incinerate the building. It eventually works, but the fiddling was ad-libbed. Chris Nolan saw what Ledger was doing and rolled with it, choosing to include that unintentionally-amusing scene in the final cut. 

139. Life of Brian Almost Didn’t Get Made
Project: Life of Brian (1979)
Est. Production Budget: $4 million*
Est. Box Office Gross: $20.7 million*

Thirty-nine local U.K. authorities imposed either an outright ban or an “X” certificate on Life of Brian, a Monty Python comedy that was released in 1979. The film used a lot of religious satire that was, at the time, quite controversial.

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Life of Brian Almost Didn’t Get Made @tordotcom/PinterestLife of Brian Almost Didn’t Get Made @tordotcom/Pinterest
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So controversial, in fact, that the film almost didn’t get made. Seeing controversy on the horizon, EMC Production Company pulled Life of Brian’s funding days before filming kicked off. The Beatles’ George Harrison heard about Life of Brian’s predicament and stepped in, paying $4 million for the film to be made.   

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