10. At a time when many expected Tim Burton, Terry Gilliam or David Lynch to take the director’s chair, cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld—who had never directed a feature—was handed the demanding assignment. The 25-week production quickly took its toll. “I lost 13 pounds in the first 10 weeks alone,” he told Empire. “The tension was just incredible.”
Just three weeks after filming began, Sonnenfeld collapsed on set while discussing the movie’s budget. He later recalled feeling “tremendous pressure” in his chest, describing it as though someone were inflating a balloon inside him. He became dizzy, attempted to sit down and suddenly lost consciousness.
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11. Making matters even more nerve-racking, Rubin would mischievously replace the name on the back of the director’s chair whenever a reporter visited the set. The new names often belonged to filmmakers who had previously been considered for the project, turning the prank into an especially pointed reminder of the job’s high-profile history.
12. The title of the sequel, Addams Family Values, came from a controversial 1992 speech by then-Vice Presidential candidate Dan Quayle. In his remarks about the Los Angeles riots, Quayle argued that the unrest reflected a decline in traditional “family values.”