Movie Secrets Revealed Years After The Fact
Over the years, especially with the rise of the Internet, information has been leaked out about many movies. In many cases this info has, in effect, pulled the curtain back to reveal otherwise undisclosed secrets about moviemaking. Simultaneously, the Internet allowed fans to speculate about the inner-workings of their favorite flicks. Some of these fan theories were later validated by the filmmakers themselves. Here are some of secrets that were revealed about classic movies years after they hit the screens...
Deckard is a replicant
Fans of Blade Runner (1982) speculated for years that the movie's protagonist, Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) is a replicant. For the uninitiated, replicants are artificial humans created for slave labor. Sure enough, in a 2000 BBC documentary, director Ridley Scott validated the fan theory.
Dumbledore is gay
There are hints in the Harry Potter series that the titular hero's mentor, Albus Dumbledore (portrayed by Richard Harris and later Michael Gambon), may be gay. The books' author, J.K. Rowling, explicitly stated that Dumbledore is indeed a
gay character during a 2007 book tour.
Assault on Precinct 13 and the MPAA
The action of director John Carpenter's 1976 thriller, Assault on Precinct 13, starts after a thug shoots a little girl near an ice cream truck. The movie shows her death in graphic detail. The MPAA threatened to give the film an X rating based on this scene. Carpenter excised the shot and gave it back to the ratings board. The MPAA gave the censored version an R rating. In response, Carpenter added the controversial scene back in for distribution.
Incognito Genie
Fans of Disney's Aladdin (1993) speculated that the peddler at the movie's beginning is actually the iconic Genie in disguise. The fact that Robin Williams voices both characters further supports this conjecture. One of the film's directors, Ron Clements, validated this rumor in a 2015 interview. The movie's original ending revealed the peddler's true identity. Even better, you can find a rough cut of this ending on YouTube. Wishes do come true, you guys.
Jabba the Hutt in Star Wars: A New Hope
Alien space slug/gangster/slime enthusiast Jabba the Hutt is one of the most memorable aspects of Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983). Many Star Wars aficionados were unaware that Jabba originally appeared in Star Wars:
Episode IV: A New Hope (better known simply as the original Star Wars from 1977). Director George Lucas deleted the character's scene from the final cut for pacing reasons. Twenty years later, in 1997, Lucas added the scene back into the
movie for the special edition re-release. The effects gurus at Lucasfilm's Industrial Light & Magic replaced the human actor that originally played Jabba (Declan Mulholland) with a CGI version of the gluttonous worm we all know and (kind of) love.