Trivia / That Thing You Do!

• Acclaimed Flop: The film was unable to make back its $26 million budget, garnering just over $25 million in the States and another $8 million internationally, but critics liked the film, as evidenced by its 93% rating on “Rotten Tomatoes” and 71% rating ^note which translates to “generally favorable reviews” on Metacritic.
  Tom Hanks: Everybody wants their movie to cause fistfights and riots and make history. I knew it wasn’t going to do that, but I was disappointed. You don’t want a movie to do OK and peter out, which is what it did. We had a three-star movie but we didn’t do three-star business.
• Actor-Inspired Element: The script simply called for Jimmy to say "I quit", but Johnathon Schaech sang it in his audition, which Tom Hanks attributed to helping Schaech land the role and shaping the eventual scene. Schaech also came up with the idea of Jimmy re-stringing his guitar during his argument with Faye, showing that Jimmy's attention was focused on his guitar and not her.
  • During the scene where Lenny sits nexts to Mr. White and eats a peppermint while Mr. White is trying to sleep, Steve Zahn came up with the idea to chew the peppermint as obnoxiously as possible.
  • According to Kevin Pollak, who played Boss Vic Koss, he told Tom Hanks that he played in a band called The Trends when he was in high school. One of the bands seen on the marquee at the Pittsburgh showcase is named... The Trends.
• California Doubling: Set in Erie, PA, filmed in Los Angeles. Most native Erieites are able to tell the difference.
• The Danza: Rita Wilson as the Blue Spot waitress Marguerite (her birth name is Margarita Ibrahimoff).
• Defictionalization:
  • "That Thing You Do!" is literally a one hit wonder by The Wonders. Unlike the film, however, they never cracked the top 40^note though they came very close, peaking at #41. Casey Kasem said that, if that song actually had been released in 1964, it would've been a big hit.
  • Tom Hanks named his production company Playtone after the fictional "Play-Tone Records" in the film.
  • Additionally, on the soundtrack CD, there are songs by fictional stars The Vicksburgs, The Heardsmen, and Del Paxton, all of whom were mentioned in the movie but never actually shown performing.
  • As part of the promo tie-in, many radio stations at the time placed the title track on regular rotation, crediting the song just as they would for an actual band. Some stations are still doing this many years later.
• Descended Creator: Tom Hanks, who plays the band's manager, is also the film's director.
• Inspiration for the Work: According to Hanks, he was inspired by the story of Jimmie Nicol, who sat in for Ringo Starr for 8 shows with The Beatles while Ringo was down with tonsillitis. The story made him wonder what Jimmie's life would have been like at the time.
• Reality Subtext: Since Tom Hanks is also the film's director, it gives his role as the band's manager some great deal of authenticity.
• Real-Life Relative: Tom Hanks' wife Rita Wilson plays the waitress at the jazz club. His son Colin Hanks plays an usher.
• Referenced by...: In the Endeavour episode "Trove", talent agent Val Todd is told that he has a phone call with "Mr. White from Play-Tone" (and "Lane from SCDP", incidentally). It makes sense that, in the wake of The British Invasion, Play-Tone would be interested in any up-and-coming acts from across the Pond. Also worth noting that one of Val's clients is a beauty queen who has taken the stage name Diana Day, not a million miles from Diane Dane.
• Separated-at-Birth Casting: Holmes Osborne (Mr. Patterson) looks remarkably like an older Tom Everett Scott, with the same curly hair, blue eyes, and expressive features.
• Star-Making Role: For Tom Everett Scott, Jonathon Schaech, and Steve Zahn. It also solidified Liv Tyler after her breakthrough role in Stealing Beauty.
• What Could Have Been: Several other artists/songwriters were asked to take a crack at writing a title song before Adam Schleisinger ended up getting the gig, including They Might Be Giants - John Flansburgh would later say that their demo was probably rejected for being "too punk".

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