After Men In Black, Ray-Ban’s Predator II sunglasses tripled in sales. (Photo: Archive)
Will Smith attended alien encounter convention in Las Vegas as a research for his role. (Photo: Archive)
Director Barry Sonnenfeld didn’t want to work with Tommy Lee Jones because of his alleged temper. However, they ended up have a great working relationship. “I ended up loving every minute of it,” the director said. (Photo: Archive)
Vincent D’Onofrio, the actor who played the bug-like alien named Edgar, wore knee braces to prevent him from bending his knees to achieve his terrifying bug walk. (Photo: Archive)
The iconic “Here Come The Men In Black” theme song was Will Smith’s first solo hit. He won a Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance. (Photo: Archive)
When Men in Black are going through the people they know to be aliens, some famous faces pop up on the screen, including Danny DeVito, Sylvester Stallone, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Men in Black director Barry Sonnenfeld, and even his daughter, Chloe Sonnenfeld. (Photo: Archive)
Originally, the film was supposed to be set in Nevada, Kansas, and D.C. However, Sonnenfeld changed his mind for New York because he thought aliens could hide more easily amongst the city’s big crowds. (Photo: Archive)
Will Smith said the hardest part about filming was fighting an alien that wasn’t really there but would later be added into the film with special effects. “When you fight something that’s not really there you feel real stupid,” the actor said. (Photo: Archive)
Makeup special-effects creator Rick Baker said Man in Black was the most complex film to work on to date. (Photo: Archive)
Will Smith was cast as J because Sonnenfeld and his wife were fans of his previous work. (Photo: Archive)
In order to prevent the sunglasses from glaring on the camera, the crew had to put a special coating that ended up erasing the Ray-Ban logo. Ray-Ban tried to convince the production to give their brand a shout-out. Will Smith inserted the brand into the theme song: “Black tie with the black attitude. New style, black Ray-Bans. I’m stunnin’,man”. (Photo: Archive)
Although there were some inaccuracies, Men In Black was praised for trying to stay true to scientific facts. (Photo: Archive)
Tommy Lee Jones thought the script didn’t capture the comic books. He said he would only accept the role if the script was improved. Spielberg agreed. (Photo: Archive)
Will Smith wasn’t convinced with the script, either. But his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, convinced him to take the role. (Photo: Archive)
Will Smith improvised the line “It be raining black people in New York.” (Photo: Archive)
In the comic, the Men in Black not only survey extraterrestrial existence, but also paranormal and supernatural activity on Earth. (Photo: Archive)
The Men in Black headquarters are located in the ventilation tower of the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, which connects Brooklyn with Manhattan. (Photo: Archive)
The scene where J accidentally sends a ball smashing around the headquarters and K says it is a “practical joke from the Great Attractor”, is a reference to an actual astronomical phenomenon called The Great Attractor. (Photo: Archive)
Mushu, the dog who played Frank the Puck in the first movie, was used again in Men in Black II, but, since the pug was now seven years old, the crew had to use makeup to cover the gray hair growing around its nose. (Photo: Archive)
Men in Black is the highest-grossing action buddy film of all time. (Photo: Archive)
In the 90’s, a story about government agents protecting planet Earth and its inhabitants from extraterrestrial lifeforms, broke box office records. For the stars, Will Smith (Agent J) and Tommy Lee Jones (Agent K), the movie was a major boost for their acting careers.
This weekend, Men In Black turned 20 years since its release in theaters in the United States and other parts of the world. To celebrate the anniversary of one of the most successful sci-fi films of all time, we’ve compiled a list of the best fun facts about the intergalactic series.
Click through our photo gallery above and learn 20 out-of-this-world facts about Men In Black.
