10 Facts You Might Not Know About The Shawshank Redemption

About the Movie:-Shawshank Redemption

1 . IT'S BASED ON A STEPHEN KING NOVELLA.

The film is based on Stephen King’s novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, which was published in his 1982 short story collection, Different Seasons. Two other short stories in the collection were made into films: 1986's Stand By Me and 1998's Apt Pupil.

2 . DARABONT GOT A GOOD DEAL ON THE RIGHTS TO KING'S STORY.

He bought the rights from King for $1.

3 . THE PRODUCTION COMPANY THAT MADE THE FILM HAS A NOD TO KING IN ITS NAME.

Castle Rock Entertainment, the production company that made The Shawshank Redemption, was co-founded by Stand By Me director Rob Reiner and is named after the mythical Maine town that provides the setting for many of King’s books. After director Frank Darabont pitched The Shawshank Redemption to Castle Rock, Reiner originally offered $2.5 million for the script to star Tom Cruise as Andy Dufresne and Harrison Ford as Red.

4 . MORGAN FREEMAN PLAYED CATCH FOR NINE HOURS STRAIGHT.

The scene where Andy first approaches Red about the rock hammer as Red plays catch in the main yard took nine hours to shoot. Freeman continued to play catch for the whole nine hours without complaining and showed up the next day with his arm in a sling.

5 . FREEMAN RECORDED HIS VOICEOVER BEFORE ANY FILM WAS SHOT.

Originally, all of Morgan Freeman’s voiceover was recorded before any of the film was shot. The fact that much of it syncs up to the onscreen action (see the scene on the roof where the inmates drink beer) isn’t simple editing; Darabont would play back the recorded voiceover on set during each take for the actors to specifically play off of the audio. But the audio quality of his voiceover was too poor to include in the movie due to tape hiss, so Freeman had to re-record the entire voiceover in post-production.

6 . SHOOTING TIM ROBBINS IN THE RAIN WAS NO EASY TASK.

Every take of the film’s signature shot of Tim Robbins raising his arms outstretched in the rain after Andy breaks out of prison was out of focus except the one in the film. It was the final take.

7 . DARABONT'S HANDS AND FEET MAKE A CAMEO.

The hands and feet in the close-up shots of Andy do not belong to Tim Robbins; they’re Darabont's.

8 . RED IS SUPPOSED TO BE A MIDDLE-AGED IRISHMAN.

In the original novella, Red is described as a middle-aged Irishman.

9 . THE MUG SHOT OF YOUNG RED ISN'T MORGAN FREEMAN.

The young man in the photo is actually Freeman's son.

10 . The tree where Red finds Andy’s letter isn’t in Buxton, Maine.

It’s in Ohio’s Malabar Farm State Park.

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