A movie that is on almost everybody’s playlist. Forrest Gump is one movie that has the powers to move you to tears decades after its release. It is one of the most universally loved movies ever made. The film went on to win Oscars for Best Actor, Best Director, Best Picture and Best Screenplay.

Not everyone knows that Forrest Gump was based on a book written by Winston Groom. Thanks to IMDB for this and many other such interesting facts about Forrest Gump. Glance through and find out how many facts you knew and which facts surprised you?

1 In October 1994, cult classics Jurassic park, Forrest Gump, Pulp Fiction and The Shawshank Redemption were all playing in theaters at the same time. 

Jurassic Park was leading the pack and was on 71st week followed by Forrest Gump at 15 weeks (as on October 14-16).  Forrest Gump made on the budget of 55 million grossed more than 279 million USD by the middle of  October.(source)

2 John Travolta was the first choice to play Forrest but turned down the role. Bill Murray, Chevy Chase were also considered. The role eventually went to Tom Hanks.

3 Tom Hanks modeled his accent on the real life accent of Michael Connor Humphreys, the boy who played young Forrest Gump in the movie.

4 Tom Hanks was not paid his actor’s fee for the movie. In lieu of a fee, Tom Hanks took percentage points which earned him about 40 million USD.

5 The line, “My name is Forrest Gump. People call me Forrest Gump,” considered as one of the iconic lines from the movie was thought up spontaneously by Tom Hanks while shooting the scene. The director liked it so much he decided to retain the line.

6 Tom Hanks is not a runner but Tom Hanks had to do a lot of running in the movie. So Tom’s younger brother Jim Hanks subbed for him in wide shots.

7 Forrest’s Washington D.C. speech scene is an important scene that furthers the narrative of the movie. Unfortunately, when  Gump begins his speech, the microphone plug is pulled. The scene apparently has actual dialogue. Gump says, “Sometimes when people go to Vietnam, they go home to their mommas without any legs. Sometimes they don’t go home at all. That’s a bad thing. That’s all I have to say about that.”