shawshank redemption 20 years old next week

such an iconic movie

20 things you didn't know about The Shawshank Redemption 
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The Shawshank Redemption: Too good for an umbrella.
The Shawshank Redemption: Too good for an umbrella.
It might not be as famous as Star Wars or as cool as Pulp Fiction, or as respected as The Godfather, but The Shawshank Redemption stands at the #1 spot in IMDB's list of the best films of all time. And this week it celebrates its 20-year anniversary!

To honour the occasion we give you a whole new set of trivia, facts and little-known information to make you appreciate the film even more. Not that it needs it.


1. The film was a huge flop at the box office, initially grossing just $18 million, which didn't even cover the cost of its own budget. However, it went on to become one of the highest grossing video rentals of all time.

2. The film is based on Stephen King's novella, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption - the mention of the actress referring to the poster that Andy requests. This title was changed for the film for fear that audiences would think it was a biopic of Hayworth and, indeed, director Frank Darabont received lots of requests for auditions from actresses and models all wanting to play her.

3. King sold the film rights for $5,000 and never cashed the cheque. Years after the film came out, King framed it and sent it to director Frank Darabont with a note saying: "In case you ever need bail money. Love, Steve."

4. Filmmaker Rob Reiner loved Frank Darabont's script so much that he offered $2.5 million for the rights to the it so that he could direct it. Darabont turned him down, deciding that it was his "chance to do something really great" by directing the movie himself. Had Reiner made the film, he wanted Tom Cruise to play the lead Andy, and Harrison Ford to play Red.

5. As well as Cruise, Tom Hanks, Kevin Costner, Nicolas Cage, Johnny Depp and Charlie Sheen were all considered for the part of Andy Dufresne. Hanks turned it down due to scheduling conflicts with Forrest Gump. Costner wanted to take the part, but was already filming Waterworld - a choice that he later admitted to regretting.

6. As for the character of Red, Clint Eastwood, Paul Newman and Robert Redford were all considered. They may seem like strange departures from the role considering that the part went to Morgan Freeman, but in the original novella, Red is a middle-aged Irishman with graying red hair. Director Frank Darabont always had Morgan Freeman in mind for the role though because of his authoritative presence, demeanor and deep voice.

7. For the iconic scene in which Andy and Red's have a chat in the prison yard, Red is pitching a baseball. The scene took nine hours to film and Morgan Freeman pitched that baseball for the entire time without complaining. He showed up on set the next day with his arm in a sling.
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Morgan Freeman, seen here shortly before his arm FELL OFF.
8. While filming The Shawshank Redemption, director Frank Darabont watched Goodfellas every Sunday and used it as inspiration for how to deal with the film's narration and passage of time.
9. During the scene in which Brooks feeds a maggot to his crow, the American Humane Association ruled that it was cruel to the maggot, and required that the filmmakers use a maggot that had died from natural causes, which they then had to find.

10. At one point in the film, Red describes Andy's plan for the future as a "sh*tty pipe dream", which turns out to be a very direct piece of foreshadowing considering that he has to crawl through a sewer pipe in order to escape!

11. The mugshots of a much younger Red that are attached to his parole papers are actually pictures of Morgan Freeman's son, Alfonso. Alfonso also has a cameo in the movie as a prisoner shouting "Fresh fish! Fresh fish today! We're reeling 'em in!"

13. Clancy Brown, who plays Captain Hadley in the film, received several offers from real-life corrections officers to help him portray the character more realistically. He turned them all down because he felt that Hadley was an evil character and didn't want to misrepresent real corrections officers.

14. The role of Tommy Williams was intended for Brad Pitt, but filming conflicted with his role in Interview With The Vampire.

15. When Andy asks Red what he is in for, Red simply says "I commited murder". In the original novella, more information is given; Red is serving three life sentences for murdering his wife, his neighbor's wife and his neighbor's son. Red disconnected the brakes on his car in order to kill his wife to collect on an insurance policy, but he didn't plan on the others joining her for the drive.
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A sweet moment captured here between Andy and a triple-murderer.
16. After Andy's escape at the end of the movie, the warden finds his digging tool cut into a copy of the bible opened at the start of Exodus, a chapter that tells the story of Hebrew slaves escaping from Egypt. The word Exodus literally means "to escape".

17. There are deleted scenes from the film that haven't been made available on any official format because director Frank Darabont is embarrassed by them and doesn't want them to be seen publicly.

18. There are two moments in the film where we see a close up of Andy's hands: when he is loading the revolver in the opening scenes and when he is carving his name into his cell wall. For both these moments, it is actually director Frank Darabont's hands that we see - he felt that only he could do exactly what he wanted in the shots.

19. For the sewage tunnel sequence, a chemist initially tested the water and found it to be lethal, prompting star Tim Robbins to refuse to get in.

20. The original novella ends with Red on the outside still searching for Andy. Frank Darabont intended this to be the ending of his film, with the last shot being of Red on a bus heading for the field, but the studio insisted on seeing the two reunited, to make for a happier end for audiences. Darabont compromised by filming the meet-up from a distance so as not to make it too saccharine-sweet.