Sometimes, truth is surprisingly stranger than fiction…
There are many, MANY successful movies out there that everyone already knows are based on true events, including one of THE most successful movies of all time: Titanic.
However, there are some movies that seem so heightened and fantastic that it feels like there’s no way they are anything but fictional, only to reveal that they are in fact based on… well… fact.
JAWS
This fictional movie is based on a fictional book of the same name, but did you know both are based on the true events of a series of shark attacks back in 1916?
A great white shark killed four people off the coast of Jersey Shore over the course of two weeks, leading to locals to head out and hunt the shark themselves in attempt to save the tourism industry of their town.
Ring any bells?
THE SOUND OF MUSIC
Adjusted for inflation, 1965’s The Sound Of Music is the third most-successful movie of all time, behind only Gone With The Wind and Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, and it is based on a true story.
The Trapp Family Singers were a popular touring act that travelled all over the world, with Maria really sent to tutor the seven children of widowed naval commander Georg Von Trapp (who was apparently a really nice guy from the get-go in real life).
They also did flee Austria when the Nazis attempting to recruit Georg, but via train to Italy, instead of by foot over the Alps.
THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE
Real-life serial killer Ed Gein is both the inspiration for this movie AND for Psycho. While the specific events of this movie are fictional, when we get to the part that is set in Leatherface’s home, the contents are all based on what the police discovered in Gein’s home when they searched it way back in 1957, filled with trophies both from his own murder victims and bodies he’d exhumed from local graveyards.
50 FIRST DATES
The Wedding Singer reunion rom-com is a very cute movie about a man (Adam Sandler) who tries to woo a woman (Drew Barrymore) who suffers from a form of amnesia that essentially resets her brain each and every morning.
But it’s actually based on the true story of Michelle Philpots, who suffers from that very rare form of amnesia, and her husband must remind her each and every morning that they are happily married.
THE NOTEBOOK
Yep, one of the most romantic movies of all time is based on a true story.
In fact, the details of the romance between Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams’ relationship are based on stories that author Nicholas Sparks learned on his wedding day about his wife’s grandparents. Apparently, after 60 years of marriage, their love was still so strong that he couldn’t help but base his book on it. Aaaawwwwwwh!
THE SHINING
A bit of a stretch, but go with us on this one.
While the specific story of The Shining is entirely fictional, Stephen King based it on his stay at The Stanley Hotel (also in Colorado, same as The Overlook in the movie). He had heard stories of decades of paranormal events there, so he decided to stay the night to see for himself. While there, he claimed to have had a nightmare involving his son was being chased down the hall of the hotel by a possessed fire hose.
It was such a weird dream, that it formed the basis of his story of a writer being driven mad by a haunted hotel.
All clips via Movie Classic Trailers
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