6 The 1951 TV show, I Love Lucy, was sponsored by Philip Morris cigarettes when the show first aired, and that was one of the reasons why we see Lucy, Ethel, Fred, and Desi always smoking in the episodes.

The 1951 TV show, I Love Lucy, is an American sitcom about the life of a young, middle-class housewife living in New York City. At that time it was common for TV shows to have weekly sponsors, but the case was different with I Love Lucy.

The show was entirely sponsored by Philip Morris cigarettes which gave them tremendous control over the content. When the first episode of I Love Lucy aired, it was opened with a Philip Morris product spokesman, Johnny Roventini, who was dressed as a bellboy holding a pack of cigarettes, and he kept shouting their slogan “Call for Philip Morris!”

In the entire first season of I Love Lucy, we can see Lucy, Ethel, Fred, and Desi always smoking in different episodes. In some scenes, the character eventually announces “Let’s all have a cigarette,” or something along those lines, and then pulls out a pack of Philip Morris cigarettes.

They make sure to show the packet art to the audience or even sometimes announce the brand name out loud. Later when the show became successful, they dropped Philip Morris and found new sponsors. (Source)

7 In the Harry Potter series, the character Rubeus Hagrid was inspired by a “huge and terrifying” Hell’s Angel biker that the 19-year-old J.K. Rowling met at a pub in England. He sat beside her and discussed his garden and how his petunias had been very bad that year.

The Harry Potter series had many characters who were inspired by real-life, and one such character was Rubeus Hagrid. Hagrid was a half-giant wizard who was a professor in the series. Hagrid was a fun-loving and scary-looking character in the series.

However, the character of Hagrid was inspired by a “huge and terrifying” Hell’s Angel biker that J.K. Rowling met once. She told Robbie Coltrane that when she was 19-year-old, she met a huge and scary real biker at a pub in England.

He sat beside her and started discussing his garden with Rowling. She said he was describing his petunias which had been very bad that year. (Source)

8 In the 1988 film, Twins, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito agreed with the studio to take 20% of the film’s box office returns instead of taking their usual salaries. The film earned $216 million worldwide and the actors made $35,000,000, which was the biggest paycheck of their careers.

The 1988 film, Twins, was a blockbuster comedy directed by Ivan Reitman. The story was about an unlikely pair of twins who were separated at birth. The twins in the movie were portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito.

The film was Schwarzenegger’s first major comedy. Before comedy, he used to do action-packed films, and while doing Twins, he decided not to take a salary to prove to Hollywood that he can do comedy films. Schwarzenegger said he wanted to give comedy movies a shot, so he decided not to take a salary just to be in the movie, which was a drastic step. 

However, both Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito had a back-end deal, so instead of taking their usual salaries, they agreed to take 20% of the film’s box office returns. Surprisingly, the film was a super hit and made $216 million. The actors made $35,000,000 which was the biggest paycheck of their careers. (Source)

9 The 1963 movie, Cleopatra, was one of the most expensive movies in history and had an original budget of $5 million. Even after two years, the filming of the movie wasn’t completed and more money had to be invested into it. Eventually, it totaled $370 million in today’s money.

The 1963 movie, Cleopatra, is a classic American historical drama. The movie was based on the 1957 book, The Life and Times of Cleopatra which was written by Carlo Maria Franzero. The film starred Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.

The film revolves around the struggles of the young Queen of Egypt, Cleopatra, who resists the imperial ambitions of Rome. The Cleopatra film was one of the most expensive films ever made. The original budget of Cleopatra was $5 million.

The filming of the movie started on September 28, 1960, but wasn’t completed even after two years. The shooting of the movie took this much time because of multiple rescheduling of shoots and re-location of production.

The most serious of them all, a personal scandal, affected the film the most and made worldwide headlines. This was an adulterous affair of co-stars Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

At last, the movie wrapped up on July 28, 1962, and the production cost totaled $31 million, which is $370 million by today’s standards. The film nearly bankrupted the studio. (Source)

10 In the 1997 movie, Titanic, the total length of the movie, except for the present-day scenes and the opening and ending credits, was two hours and forty minutes, which is the exact time the Titanic took to sink. The duration of the collision with the iceberg was 37 seconds, which was the same in the movie as well as in reality.

The 1997 movie, Titanic, was the American epic romance and disaster film written, directed, and produced by James Cameron, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. The movie is about two different social class members who met and fell in love while traveling on the Titanic, which was regarded as an unsinkable ship.

The movie also depicts one of the disastrous 1912 shipwrecks where the unsinkable Titanic, on its first sail, sank after a collision with an iceberg. 

One of the most notable things in the Titanic movie was that it had a long run time. The movie lasted 3 hours and 14 minutes, which was unusual as compared to other movies at that time. However, the time duration of the movie had a significant meaning.

If you cut the modern-day scenes, opening and ending credits, then the movie comes to two hours and forty minutes, which is the exact time it took the Titanic in 1912 to go down in the frigid waters off Canada’s east coast.

However, the duration of the collision with the iceberg was 37 seconds, which was the same in the movie as well as in reality. It is somewhat mind-blowing to see the real-life similarity with the movie. (Source)