Question: How exactly did Peter Jackson get the rights to this series? He is obviously a talented director but, and this is no offence intended, his previous credits are basically limited to relatively small-time comedy horror movies. To go from that to producing the first live action movie adaptations of what is perhaps the most famous book series in the world seems a bit odd, especially given how little Hollywood likes to take risks nowadays.
Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more
These are questions relating to specific titles. General questions for movies and TV shows are here. Members get e-mailed when any of their questions are answered.
Question: Why is there a 4 in place of an 'a' on the title? It says "L4yer Cake".
Answer: Because the logo's a car registration plate and a number fits that structure better than just letters.
Answer: I think the 4 stands for the drug Ecstasy.
Question: Why wasn't Anne Hathaway used in the beginning scenes of the movies when we see Princess Mia at her graduation but only the back of her, a headless shot on the airplane and only her cat gets out of the limo when they arrive at the castle? We don't actually see her until she appears on the balcony in the red strapless gown for her 21st birthday celebration ball.
Answer: I wonder about this too. It could be for dramatic purposes before the balcony scene. But graduation scene is definitely not Anne. The girl's hair looked thicker than of Anne's.
Answer: I had the very same question it wasn't until the third scene that they show her face.
Answer: You actually DO see her face at the college graduation. After the ceremony, she is holding her diploma and talking to her two friends. She tells one "Thank your mom for all the cookies", and then Joe tells her that they need to leave to get on the plane.
Answer: But they never show her face until she is on the plane.
Question: When the Kraken attacks the ship near the end, several unnamed "extras" are manning the cannons, getting killed, etc. My question is where did all these sailors come from? All the unnamed sailors in Jack's original crew died on the cannibal island, and they picked up a maximum of four in Tortuga.
Question: What song is playing while Al and Steve look for Marcy's Barbie doll?
Answer: It's called "You belong to the City", and is by Glenn Frey.
Question: I am sure I've heard some of the T-Rex sound effects before, particularly the growling noise it makes when Tim shuts the door of the Ford Explorer in the first big T-Rex scene. I thought perhaps they were stock sound effects but was told they were all created for the movie. Can anyone tell me where else they might have been used? I get the feeling some might have been used in one of the Doom games.
Answer: The sound effects were created specifically for the movie and Spielberg has a very strict policy against letting his material be used for stock (because of an incident in which footage from his movie "Duel" was recycled into the Incredible Hulk TV show). Therefore, you could not have heard this particular growl anywhere else. Perhaps it was just very similar. One place you may have heard it was on the software program GoZilla. That used the Rex roar when a download completed.
Answer: I always thought it sounded like the predator. The little clicking growling noises that is, not the roar.
Question: I'm curious to know: Jack was the captain of the Pearl when they found the island with the Aztecs gold. In another post it was stated that Jack, as the Captain, would recieve 2/3 of the loot. So why didn't Jack take a piece of the gold along with the other pirates?
Answer: Because they threw a mutiny and marooned Jack on an island so he was not there to take a piece of gold.
Question: What was the black spot on Jacks hand all about? Was it the beginning of a mutation like Davy Jones's crew or was it something else? Also, why did Jack's crew do spins when they saw it?
Answer: The black spot means he is a marked man. It originated in the book Treasure Island. It is just showing that Davy Jones it after him. The reason Gibbs spins and spits is for luck, the reason Pintel and Regetti do it (according to the book) is because they saw Gibbs do it and so they do it just in case it will help them.
Question: In the trailer there is a scene where we see Will possibly on the island where he is reunited with Elizabeth and he says "Where's Jack, I can't leave without him. Never mind let's go." This scene does not occur in the movie but Will does say almost the same thing but he says, "time to go". Why is it different?
Answer: Trailers often use different takes to the finished film, as the film itself is rarely finalised at the point where they're publicising it. In this case, they ultimately decided to use a different take where Will uses different wording.
Question: I have seen online that lots of people are saying that the theme song is supposed to have a sequence where the plane lands and that Will runs from someone that looks like a cop, yet I have seen the extended opening and this is not in it. Is that sequence a lie of is it part of the song, but not of the opening credits?
Question: What does Miracle Max mumble before agreeing to help Inigo and Fezzik with mostly-dead Westley? It's after Inigo says "humiliations galore," as Max is turning away to get his hat.
Answer: He is just singing/babbling happily. According to the captions, he sings, "Hi diddle lick do day dee shie!" He then says, "That is a noble cause".
Question: Early in the film the hotel manager mentions that the Overlook was built on an old Indian burial ground and that builders had to repel several Indian attacks during construction. Indian attacks? During the 20th century? And why mention this detail, since it was never mentioned again or became part of the story.
Answer: "Indian attacks" just means attacked by Indians who owned the land. It does not necessarily mean Indians with warpaint/horses/etc., just that the attack came from the tribe who owned the land. As for him mentioning it to Jack, he is just giving him a brief history of the Overlook Hotel, as Jack will be the caretaker and might want to know about the history surrounding the Overlook.
Question: In the original four Superman movies, Superman had a yellow "S" symbol on the back of his cape - just like in the comics. However in Superman Returns there is no "S". Is there any reason for the change?
Question: How exactly is the preparation of the breakfast with the egg and the toast?
Answer: Take a slice of bread. Using a drinking glass, cut a hole out of it by pressing the opening of the glass down. Butter both sides, then put the "frame" slice in the pan (you can discard the cut-out piece of bread), then crack an egg in it. Cook to taste.
Question: Is there an excuse given for Kurt's disappearance anywhere? I've only seen this film once, and I can't remember.
Answer: Not in the film, unfortunately. Kurt leaves the X-Men in the video game, "X-Men: The Official Game", which takes place between the two movies. His reason is that he wants a more peaceful life.
Question: Does anyone know where the scene in the theater was filmed, where Julia Roberts is on the stage with the swing and the snow, and then backstage playing in the costumes?
Answer: Filmed at the Abbeville Opera House in Abbeville SC. From imdb Trivia: Star 'Julia Roberts' caused a controversy after she left Abbeville, South Carolina, where the film shot some location work. She said the place was "a living hell" and a "horribly racist" town and she would never return there again.
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.
Chosen answer: Presumably you are referring to "Bad Taste" and "Braindead" as Jackson's low-budget horror films. Bear in mind though, that Jackson had directed "Heavenly Creatures", a highly-acclaimed drama, and "The Frighteners" starring Michael J. Fox, which despite being quite a low-budget horror film showcased high-quality visual effects from Jackson's Weta Digital company. Also, it may have been Jackson's ability to work on a small budget that won him the gig: the LOTR films had often been considered too expensive to make. Plus this isn't unprecendented - when the Wachowski Brothers presented their idea for The Matrix the studio didn't want to give them a massive budget straight away. They made "Bound" first for a relative pittance, and that was enough to convince the studio they had the talent necessary for a huge movie.
Sierra1 ★