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Trivia: While the studio has only acknowledged that the budget was just over $250 million, insiders have suggested that its actual budget was closer to $350 million once you account for things like research and development for the visual effects, the astronomical cost of filming in New York, extensive last-minute reshoots, etc, making it one of the most expensive movies ever made.

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Trivia: Scarlett Johansson was reportedly a serious contender for the role of Gwen Stacy. Ironically, she would later go on to play the character "Black Widow" in the MCU - a spy/assassin whose name is taken from a breed of spider.

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Trivia: Reportedly, astronaut John Jameson from "Spider-Man 2" was originally going to have a cameo where he'd be returning to Earth from a space mission, and the symbiote (presumably drifting through space) would latch onto his shuttle to explain where it came from. This scene was deemed to be too long and costly by the studio, so the symbiote had to be hastily re-written to have arrived on a meteor.

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Trivia: In a strange bit of irony, the red-headed Mary Jane is played by Kirsten Dunst, who is naturally blond... while the blonde Gwen Stacey is portrayed by Bryce Dallas Howard, who is naturally a red-head.

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Trivia: Despite the common complaint that he wasn't muscular enough for the role, Topher Grace actually put on over 20 pounds of muscle mass for the movie through an intensive training program.

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Trivia: The "Birth of Sandman" scene in which Sandman reconstitutes himself took over six months to produce because the particle effects were so intricate to render, and the filmmakers wanted to really nail the look, pacing and tone of the scene. In fact, before producing that scene, the visual effects artists actually studied sand looks, physics and dynamics for several years, knowing that Sandman was intended to be a major villain in the third film.

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Trivia: Bryce Dallas Howard performed most of her own stunts... she was unaware that she was actually pregnant at the time. Thankfully, she had no complications.

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Trivia: For the scene where Spider-Man punches through Sandman's chest, a very simple trick was used. For that scene, Spider-Man was played by a stuntman/actor who really was missing his arm from the elbow-down. Therefore, he was able to punch Sandman in the chest, and have it looks like his arm went "into" him. To tie the scene together, simple digital effects were added to put in the rest of the arm coming out of Sandman's back.

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Trivia: Director Sam Raimi has openly stated that he disliked how the film turned out, even going so far as to call it "awful" in a podcast interview for Nerdist. While he refused to openly lay blame on the studio interference, he said that he "didn't believe in the characters," and stated that trying to follow his instincts to raise the stakes and make the story bigger after the first two movies ultimately "doomed" the film, as he should have just focused on progressing the character's various arcs.

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Trivia: The film had been in some form of development since 2001. It was finally released in 2021 - twenty years after initial development began. (Although Stan Lee had campaigned for a movie starring the character as early as the 1980's, and he wanted Brandon Lee, son of Bruce Lee, to star in it).

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Trivia: Tom Holland confirmed that director Jon Watt borrowed directorial elements from previous "Spider-Man" films for this movie to pay tribute to them. For example, he sometimes tried to mimic the frenetic movement and quirky camera angles of Sam Raimi, who famously directed the original "Spider-Man" movie trilogy from 2002-2007 and is well-known for his unique camerawork.

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Trivia: Despite his prominent billing, John Krasinski has less than 10 minutes of screen time in the entire film (all in flashbacks), due to his character's death in the first film.

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Trivia: The film held its world premiere in March, 2020. However, the COVID-19 pandemic became so severe, that its general release date ended up getting postponed all the way to May, 2021 - fourteen months after its world premiere.

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Trivia: Spoiler Alert: When Sandman and Lizard are cured and turned back into humans, the footage of them in their human forms is actually digitally manipulated stock footage and alternate takes from their respective original films. Ex. When Sandman turns human, it's using manipulated stock footage from the subway fight scene in "Spider-Man 3." When Lizard is turned human, it appears to be an alternate angle/B-roll from footage featured in the final battle of "The Amazing Spider-Man."

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Trivia: !MASSIVE SPOILER ALERT! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!"Spider-Man: No Way Home" features the first on-screen appearance of Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man in 14 years, since the release of "Spider-Man 3" in 2007. It also features the first on-screen appearance of Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man in 7 years, since the release of "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" in 2014. The film's multiverse-based story allowed them to return and interact with one-another and Tom Holland's version of the character.

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Trivia: Originally, John Krasinski didn't want to write or direct the film. He came up with the basic story, but intended to hand off the project to another writer/director to develop and helm. However, the studio was eventually able to convince him to return.

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Trivia: Ironically, this theatrical movie is actually slightly shorter than the average episode of the TV show that inspired it. The show typically runs 80-90 minutes per episode (roughly two hours with commercials), while the movie is only 74 minutes.

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Stupidity: Leon is able to sleep though an 18 wheeler crashing and then exploding about twenty feet in front of him at the police station... the deafening blast, the heat, the light, etc. don't wake him up. But a gunshot from a pistol woke him up thirty seconds later.

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Trivia: Like many movies, its release was pushed back multiple times due to the COVID pandemic. It was originally scheduled to be released in July, 2021. It was subsequently pushed back to November, and then again to December.

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Trivia: Original "Doctor Strange" director Scott Derrickson was originally attached to return for this sequel in 2017, but left the production in early 2020. Derrickson and his co-writer C. Robert Cargill wanted to take the movie in a different direction than Marvel Studios, and decided to step away, as they did not want to compromise either their or Marvel's vision for the sequel. Derrickson however is remaining attached as an executive producer due to his work on the first movie and the character.

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