Interesting facts about the highest grossing films in the history of cinema

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

On December 19, 1997, the world premiere of the film "Titanic", directed by James Cameron, took place. This film became the highest-grossing in the history of cinema and held this title for 12 years, until the release of another Cameron's film - "Avatar". Today is a selection of interesting facts about the highest grossing films in world cinema.

St. Petersburg communists accused James Cameron of plagiarism

James Cameron's Avatar, which was released in 2009, shocked the world with its scale and special effects, becoming a real breakthrough in cinema. It became the first film in history to go over the $ 2 billion mark worldwide.

60% of the film's tape was created using computer graphics, and in total, it took about 1,024 terabytes of disk space to create the picture. There were also "live scenes" in the film, most of which were filmed among specially created huge sets in Wellington (New Zealand). To create the scenery, 150 construction contractors were involved. Several times for natural filming, Cameron with a film crew traveled to China, to Zhangjiajie, a national park known for its mystical beauty. For a long time this place was unknown to the world community, and only in 1992 the reserve was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Today, millions of tourists flock to the reserve to see the Yulinyuan Mountains, which became the prototype of the Flying Mountains of Pandora.

James Cameron was accused of plagiarism several times. In 2010, the director was accused by the "Communists of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region". They posted a statement on their website in which they called Cameron "the plunderer of Soviet science fiction" and demanded his arrest. The organizers of this campaign assured that the American director used the ideas of Arkady Strugatsky and a number of other science fiction writers in the film. But Strugatsky himself said that he had no complaints about the author of the film.

An almost life-size model of the ship was built for filming "Titanic"

The second place in the world ranking of the highest-grossing films is occupied by another film by James Cameron - the disaster film Titanic, filmed in 1997. This film is also an Oscar-winner. He was nominated for an Oscar in 14 nominations and received 11 nominations, including the Best Film of the Year award.

For the filming of "Titanic" in Mexico, a completely new studio was built on the Rosarito coast. In a huge pool, a mock ship was built 231 meters in length, which is only 34 meters shorter than a real liner. Filming was carried out from a 50-meter crane mounted on rails. The underwater footage in the film takes only 12 minutes, but in order to get it, the filmmakers had to descend to a depth of 12 times and spend several hours underwater. For some frames, the picture was transmitted by a device that was installed inside the remains "Titanic".

Unbelievable but true! When James Cameron wrote the film, he believed that Rose DeWitt Bukater and Jack Dawson were fictional characters. But after the script was ready, the director found out that one of the passengers on the liner was “J. Dawson. Joseph Dawson, born in 1888, was a resident of Dublin. He is buried with the rest of the victims in a burial in Nova Scotia. After the release of Cameron's film, grave 227, in which Dawson is buried, is the most visited in the cemetery.

Jake Gillinhaal has a tooth knocked out on the set of "The Avengers"

Third place with a gross of $ 1,518,594,910 for Joss Whedon's The Avengers. This film stands out not only for its box office and history of creation, but also for huge media interest. After all, Whedon invited the stars of the first magnitude to his picture.

It is known that on the set there were constant clashes between Mark Ruffalo (Hulk) and Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man). One of these skirmishes ended in a trivial scuffle, during which the innocent Jake Gillinhaal, who starred, was left without a tooth. The result of the incident was unexpected: Downey and Ruffalo have since become good friends, and Gillinhall's tooth was sold at a charity auction for $ 98,000.

Daniel Radcliffe became richer than Prince William after filming "Potterian"

The movie "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2", which was released in theaters in 2011, grossed $ 1,341,511,219 billion. It is known that in the largest battle scene of the film - the final battle, where 400 Death Eaters and Jaegers participated - 400 children and their teachers were involved.

It may seem a little strange, but the most unpleasant for the actors Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, according to them, was the scene of their kiss. “It was awful!” - say the actors about the scene, which was filmed from the 10th take, which, however, is very little for such shooting moments.

For 9 years of work on the project, Daniel Radcliffe, starring in the role of Harry Potter, has become one of the richest men in the UK. His fortune was estimated at $ 28.5 million, which is more than the fortune of Prince William.

In "Iron Man 3" there is a hero with tattoos in Russian

Iron Man 3 (2013), which grossed $ 1,215,439,994 at the box office, took visual effects to the next level. 630 parachutists took part in the filming of this film. A team of professional skydivers performed accurate jumps for 10 days.

Attentive Russian viewers could not help but notice on Vanko's feet, which are shown in close-up in one of the scenes, the inscription in Russian “My native country is wide. There are many mothers 'prisons in it.' In addition, on the fingers of this hero are tattoos - worms, clubs, tambourines and spades, meaning that the hero was imprisoned for the rape of a young girl, for theft and for hooliganism. According to the plot of the film, Vanko is a physicist who served time for plutonium trade.

On the set of the movie "Transformers 3: The Dark Side of the Moon" more than half a thousand cars were smashed

Director Shane Black's film comic "Transformers 3: The Dark Side of the Moon" grossed $ 1,215,439,994 at the worldwide box office and ranked sixth in the top-grossing films. This film set the record for the number of cars wrecked during filming - a total of 532 cars were smashed.

All of these cars from the Marvel Studios film company went completely free of charge thanks to the insurance company, which gave the filmmakers the equipment damaged during the flood and which was intended for disposal.

Dwarf Gimli from "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" made a bright farewell to his makeup

On the seventh line of the cinema rating of films with the largest collections - "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (1,119,929,521 billion), released in 2003. This film received 11 Oscars. It is still the only film in the fantasy genre, which was named "Best Film of the Year" by American film academics. All in all, the film has 62 nominations and 98 awards.

As with the first and second parts of the trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King has a director's cut that includes 50 minutes of additional scenes that were not included in the main cut.

It is known that John Rhys-Davis, who starred as the gnome Gimli, suffered from makeup more than any of the actors. After filming was complete, he ceremoniously burned the uncomfortable rubber pads.

The actor who played James Bond was filmed without a stunt double

On the eighth line of the rating of the highest grossing films is the 23rd film in the franchise about the English agent James Bond - the film “007. Coordinates: Skyfall (2012). The film grossed over $ 1 billion, making it the leader of all James Bond films.

In this part of the franchise, the role of James Bond was played for the third time by Daniel Craig, although he initially refused the role because he was afraid that he would become the hero of one character. Interestingly, Craig did all the stunts in the films himself, and it looks like the end of Bond is not expected anytime soon.

The Dark Knight Rises

The fantastic action movie The Dark Knight Rises, directed by Christopher Nolan, which grossed $ 1,084,439,099 at the box office, in ninth place. Filming for this film began in early May 2011, and it was released on screens in November of the same year. To avoid information leakage, Christopher Nolan, the film's director, presented the ending of the film to the actors only orally.

The actors noted that filming in this film was very difficult for them. Tom Hardy, for example, studied martial arts and gained 30 pounds of muscle to play the role of Bane, while Anne Hathaway (Selina Kyle) danced, exercised and studied various tricks 5 days a week.

In the movie "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest", Depp shone with his golden teeth

Closing the "top ten" highest-grossing films in world cinema, the film "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" with Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom, grossed $ 1,066,179,725.

With all the seeming abundance of scenery in the filming of the sequels, only one full-fledged ship was used - the Black Pearl. The rest are decorations placed on floating barges. Separately, it should be said about the golden teeth of Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), which now and then sparkle in the frame. These teeth are not makeup at all, but the real Depp implants. True, producer Jerry Bruckheimer did not like the abundance of gold in the actor's mouth, and only a few teeth with a golden sheen were left in Jack Sparrow's mouth.

Not without records on the set. The giant wheel used in the film is 5.5 meters high and weighs 815 kilograms.