20 facts you might not know about 'Men in Black'

We’re used to comic book movies, but they tend to be about superheroes. Everybody knows Batman has his origins in comics, for example. You might not know about the comic “The Men in Black,” though. Written by Lowell Cunningham with artwork by Sandy Carruthers, six issues of “The Men in Black” were published from 1990 through 1991.

Much like Teenage Mutant Ninjas Turtles, the comic that Men in Black is based on is quite darker than the movie. One notable example is that memories are not wiped in the comics. Instead, witnesses are simply killed. Hard to make that a part of a crowd-pleasing blockbuster.

The producers of Men in Black wanted Barry Sonnenfeld to direct based on his films The Addams Family and Addams Family Values. Those movies had a similar vibe to what they wanted. However, Sonnenfeld was already planning on making Get Shorty. Instead of hiring a different director, production was delayed so that Sonnenfeld could finish Get Shorty before directing Men in Black.

Tommy Lee Jones ended up in the role of the grizzled, gruff Men in Black agent known only as K. Given. It may not be a surprise who the first actor they wanted for the role was. Clint Eastwood was offered the chance to play K, but he turned it down.

Jones doesn’t seem like the type of actor to mince words, and that was evidently the case when he was delivered an early draft for Men in Black. Eventually, Jones was ready to turn the movie down because he thought the script was really bad — and said as much. However, the movie had an ace up its sleeve in producer Steven Spielberg. Spielberg promised Jones the script would improve, and Jones signed on because he trusted the iconic filmmaker.

In the comics, the character of J is a blond white guy. Will Smith is not. Early on, the producers went down a different route looking for their actor to play J. David Schwimmer, at the height of Friends, turned down the film. So did Chris O’Donnell, fearing the role of J was too similar to the role of Robin he had played in two Batman movies.

The director’s wife was familiar with Smith from his hit sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Remember, movies can take a while to get made, so casting was happening before Independence Day came out. Sonnenfeld, meanwhile, had liked Smith in one of his earliest films: Six Degrees of Separation. Smith, by the way, also signed on after talking to Spielberg.

The role of Edgar is not necessarily a big one in the movie, but then Edgar becomes the skin suit the Bug wears around, which is perhaps the meatiest role in the film. Both John Turturro and cult film legend Bruce Campbell were offered the role of the Bug, but both had scheduling conflicts. This left Vincent D’Onofrio to take on what might be his most famous role.

In the early versions of the script, a lot of the action in Men in Black was taking place underground. Locations for scenes in the film included Washington D.C., Nevada, and Kansas. Notably, New York City was not mentioned just now. It was actually Sonnenfeld who had the idea of moving the action to New York City, citing the architecture and the notion that New Yorkers would not look askance at an alien posing as a human acting strangely. This latter notion became integral to the essence of the movie.

Originally, when James Edwards, the police officer who becomes known as J once he joins the Men in Black, is chasing the alien in disguise, it was supposed to be on the roof of Lincoln Center. However, the New York Philharmonic was going to charge to use their buildings. Instead, to save a little cash, they filmed at the Guggenheim Museum.

Just because a movie is in post-production doesn’t mean it’s locked. Men in Black changed more than most films during post-production, though. Originally, the Arquillians were supposed to deliver the galaxy to an alien species called the Baltians to end a war. The Bug wants the war to keep going so he plans to steal the galaxy, and Earth is going to be destroyed in the crossfire. The worry was this would be too complicated. Subtitles, the images on the Men in Black’s computer, and Frank the Pug’s dialog were all changed to remove the Baltians from the story entirely. Well, except in the novelization of the movie, which was too far along by this point.

Hey, why not change the movie's entire ending while you’re at it? That’s what Sonnenfeld decided to do. Originally, J and the Bug were going to end things with an existential debate, of all things. Sonnenfeld felt this wasn’t action-heavy enough for the movie. They considered five endings before settling on K going inside the Bug to get his gun and blow him up. This scene cost the production an extra $4.5 million.

Men in Black required a lot of special effects, makeup, and prosthetics. They went out and got the very best. Rick Baker worked on the makeup and effects for the movie. The now-retired Baker was nominated for the Best Makeup Oscar 11 times in his career, winning seven of them.

Smith was of course a rapper even before he was an actor, and he was still at it at the time of Men in Black. In fact, he recorded a single to play over the movies closing credits called “Men in Black.” It was on the soundtrack and also was the lead single on the album Big Willie Style. This was actually Smith’s first single as a solo artist after parting ways with DJ Jazzy Jeff. It went on to become a No. 1 song in the United States and win a Grammy.

That $4.5 action-heavy ending led “Men in Black” to finish with a budget of $90 million. It wasn’t a problem in the end, as the movie made $250.6 million in the United States and Canada while making $338.7 million in the rest of the world. That means a worldwide total of $589.4 million. All in all, a big payday for the film.

Hollywood studios aren’t always known for being honest with their finances. In particular, the movie industry is known for some creative accounting. Men in Black seems to be a perfect example of that. As we said, the worldwide take for Men in Black in theaters alone was $589.4 million. However, screenwriter Ed Solomon has said that Sony continues to claim that the film has never told a profit. Yes, according to Sony’s accounting practices, Men in Black hasn’t made them a dime. Consider us skeptical.

The Men in Black wear Ray-Ban’s “Predator 2” sunglasses, particularly when avoiding the effects of the neuralyzers. This really boosted the popular of the Predators 2s. After the movie came out, sales of the Predator 2 sunglasses reportedly tripled.

Remember when we mentioned that Rick Baker has seven Oscar wins for Best Makeup? Men in Black was one of those. It was the movie’s only win, but not its only nomination. Men in Black also got a nomination for its Danny Elfman score and for Best Art Direction. It also won the Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film, and D’Onofrio won for Best Actor.

Naturally, Men in Black got a sequel based on its success. After Men in Black II, there was Men in Black III, which involved time travel and saw Josh Brolin doing a fine Jones impression as a young K. Seven years after Men in Black III, we got a reboot called Men in Black: International starring Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson. However, it got negative reviews and underperformed at the box office.

Right in the wake of Men in Black, we got an animated series for kids on The WB. It lasted for four seasons from 1997 through 2001, though only 53 episodes were made. There was a role-playing game released in 1997 as well, and since then, there have been six video games. Don’t forget about “Alien Attack” either, an interactive ride that opened at Universal Studios in Florida in 2000. Over two decades later, it’s still going strong.