We look back at the 1999 David Fincher movie

It's the 20th anniversary of 'Fight Club' today and for many of us, it was a formative movie.

People are forever quoting the movie and producing parodies, and many have tattoos inspired by the film. It follows an office worker (Edward Norton) who hates his job and consumerist ways. He meets Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) and the pair start a fight club and engage in increasingly violent debauchery.

BUT THERE'S ALSO A TWIST.

The 1999 David Fincher-helmed flick was controversial, innovative and majorly influential. Two decades on, it still packs a punch.

Here's some useless trivia you may not have known about the cult classic.

 

1. Prior to filming, makeup artist Julie Pearce studied UFC fights to see what kind of makeup effects were needed for the film. She had never done "realistic fight makeup" before.

2. Helena Bonham Carter insisted that her makeup artist apply her eye makeup with her left hand. She felt that Marla wouldn’t be skilled at or concerned with applying makeup correctly.

3. Other actresses considered for the role of Marla include Winona Ryder, Janeane Garofalo, Courtney Love, Reese Witherspoon, Renee Zellweger, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Russell Crowe was considered for Tyler Durden

4. Peter Jackson was the initial choice to direct, but he was busy prepping ‘Lord of the Rings’ by then. The second choice was Bryan Singer, then Danny Boyle. As for the Narrator, Matt Damon and Sean Penn were considered.

5. Edward Norton lost 17-20 pounds for this role after having to beef up for American History X. Norton achieved the weight loss by running, taking vitamins and ignoring the on-set catering.

6. When The Narrator hits Tyler Durden in the ear, Edward Norton was originally meant to fake it. However, before the scene, David Fincher pulled Norton aside and told him to really hit Brad Pitt. This was the take they used in the movie.

7. In the scene where The Narrator is popping a mint into his mouth, watching infomercials, a promo video for the Bridgeworth Suites is playing on TV. One of the hotel employees in the ad is Brad Pitt.

8. David Fincher said the movie’s lighting is based on being inside a 7-Eleven in the middle of the night.

9. There is a Starbucks coffee cup in almost every scene (on purpose – we’re looking at you, ‘Game of Thrones’).

10. On the tenth anniversary Blu-Ray version of ‘Fight Club’, the menu for the Drew Barrymore movie ‘Never Been Kissed’ appears for a good 15 seconds before revealing itself as a prank.

11. The line "I haven't been fucked like that since grade school" was a replacement, after the original line ("I want to have your abortion") was considered too crass. The writer got Fox’s execs to agree that any other line was better and they weren’t allowed to veto it.

12. There is smoke everywhere in ‘Fight Club’ between cigarettes, "No Smoking" signs and ashtrays too. Helena Bonham Carter got bronchitis during the six months of filming.

13. The buildings that blow up in the end are all Fox-owned buildings digitally composited into the shots. This was because they feared legal action would be taken against the production if real credit card companies were portrayed.