Annihilation is a sci-fi thriller by Alex Garland from 2018 about a mysterious zone somewhere in Florida. Who are the two actresses alongside Oscar Isaac
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Another easy-going round, though a couple of these questions have more history behind them than you'd expect from a simple multiple-choice quiz. Twelve films, twelve stories, and at least a few surprising bits of trivia mixed in along the way.
We open with Annihilation, Alex Garland's 2018 sci-fi thriller about a mysterious, slowly mutating zone somewhere in the Florida wilderness, with Oscar Isaac in a supporting role. Garland took an unusual approach when adapting the source novel — rather than sticking closely to the book, he reportedly chose not to reread it before writing, instead trying to capture the feeling of it from memory, more like translating a half-remembered dream onto the screen than a page-by-page adaptation.
Next, a bit of classic Hollywood history: in 1933, an actress originated a role that would later be revisited by two very different performers — one in her screen debut in 1976, and another in a 2005 remake directed by Peter Jackson. The original actress passed away in August 2004, and two days later, one of Manhattan's most famous skyscrapers dimmed its lights for fifteen minutes in her honor, a nod to the unforgettable finale her film is still remembered for. That same film is also credited with rescuing its studio from the brink of financial collapse during a difficult era for the industry.
Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood rounds out its starry ensemble with Margot Robbie, Emile Hirsch, Dakota Fanning, Bruce Dern, and Al Pacino, while Luke Perry, Kurt Russell, Michael Madsen, and Tim Roth appear in smaller roles throughout.
Notes on a Scandal, from 2006, explores the tense relationship between a veteran teacher played by Judi Dench and a younger colleague, with Juno Temple appearing as the younger teacher's daughter — remarkably, it was Temple's very first film audition and first major role. Richard Eyre directed, with cinematography by Chris Menges and a score by Philip Glass.
Stanley Kubrick's sprawling historical epic brought together Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Charles Laughton, Jean Simmons, Peter Ustinov, and Tony Curtis, along with John Gavin, John Ireland, and Herbert Lom in supporting roles. Kubrick himself only came aboard after Douglas had a serious falling-out with the film's original director. Behind the scenes, screenwriter Dalton Trumbo — blacklisted at the time for his political views and barred from the set — reportedly had to be smuggled into the studio under a blanket just to watch rough cuts of his own screenplay being shaped into a film.
Luc Besson's crime comedy The Family follows a mafia couple relocating from New York to rural Normandy with their children, with Tommy Lee Jones playing the FBI agent assigned to keep an eye on them. The story is based on a novel titled after the family's beloved dog — an Italian phrase that loosely translates to "criminal life," which doubles as a pretty fitting description of the family's predicament. Martin Scorsese served as one of the film's executive producers.
David Fincher's 2020 film Mank, co-starring Amanda Seyfried and Lily Collins, has an unusually personal backstory: the screenplay was written by Fincher's own father, who completed the script back in 1992, nearly three decades before the film finally made it to screen — he passed away in 2003, never seeing his work reach the screen.
In Unknown, a 2011 thriller based on a novel by Didier Van Cauwelaert and directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, a man wakes from a coma to discover someone else has taken over his entire identity, alongside Diane Kruger, January Jones, and Aidan Quinn. The supporting cast also includes veteran actors Bruno Ganz and Frank Langella in smaller but memorable roles.
Stephen Frears's biographical comedy Florence Foster Jenkins tells the true story of a wealthy heiress convinced of her singing talent despite a famously terrible voice, with Hugh Grant also starring. In reality, the real Florence Foster Jenkins only ever released a single professional recording in her lifetime — and, oddly enough, David Bowie reportedly kept a copy of that very recording in his personal record collection. Alexandre Desplat composed the score, one of an astonishing ten film scores he wrote in a single year.
Lasse Hallström's 2009 drama Hachi: A Dog's Tale is an American adaptation of a much earlier Japanese film about the true story of Hachikō, a loyal Akita dog whose devotion to his owner in 1920s and '30s Japan became a national legend. This version relocates the story to a small American town, with Joan Allen co-starring, and a score composed by Jan A. P. Kaczmarek.
Adrian Lyne's 1987 thriller Fatal Attraction, based on an earlier short film, also stars Glenn Close and Anne Archer. Close reportedly still keeps a prop from the film — a decorative knife used in one of its most tense scenes — hanging in her own kitchen decades later, once describing it simply as a beautiful piece of craftsmanship.
And we close with Gore Verbinski's The Ring, about a cursed videotape that kills anyone who watches it within seven days, co-starring Martin Henderson and Brian Cox. The role of the film's lead journalist reportedly went through several rounds of casting before landing with the actress who ultimately played it. The film itself is a remake of a 1998 Japanese thriller, and proved successful enough to spawn two more sequels, all loosely based on the same source novel.
Twelve films, several decades of behind-the-scenes stories. Good luck.