Across the Universe Trivias

Although in the scene outside the high school everyone was dressed in jackets, coats, hats etc... It was actually near 80 degrees while filming. In fact, when the camera cut, they brought umbrellas over the principle actors to keep them in the shade.Even though this is an obvious observation, most of the characters are named after different Beatles songs (Jude, Mr. Kite, Dr. Robert, Lucy), along with the title of the movie.

90% of the songs were recorded live on-set and were not dubbed with studio recordings in post-production. Evan Rachel Wood's version of "If I Fell" is totally live, and was successfully completed on the first take.Early versions of the script included a segment involving a prison guard named Sgt. Pepper, with "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" set to accompany the scene. The entire idea was scrapped as the script was finalized for production.

Salma Hayek specifically requested to appear in the film. When director Julie Taymor mentioned the role of the Bang Bang Shoot Shoot Nurse, Hayek replied, "Just ONE of the nurses, Julie?" The shipyard employee that gives Jude his paycheck says he thought he'd be doing something different when he was sixty-four, an allusion to the song "When I'm Sixty-Four."

Prudence first enters the apartment through the window, a reference to "She Came in through the Bathroom Window." The stained glass windows in Jude's apartment feature 45 RPM records as the center of the flowers.

Cafe Huh? is a reference to Cafe Wha?, originally in Greenwich Village.When Max and Jude first see their apartment, Sadie comments that Max seems harmless, but could have murdered someone with a silver hammer, and in another scene Max is shown holding a silver hammer, both homages to the song that lends Max his name, "Maxwell's Silver Hammer."

The cavern area where Sadie and her band performs is a reference to the Cavern Club, where the Beatles performed for the first time.When Jude takes inspiration from the bowl of strawberries, he creates a Jackson Pollock-styled "splatter" painting. This seemingly alludes to original Beatles' bassist Stuart Sutcliffe who was a painter in the Jackson Pollock style.

The intro of the film version of "If I Fell" is borrowed from The Beatles' intro to "Good Day Sunshine." The Cavernous club seen in the UK side of the alternating vignettes at the opening of the film is the Cavern Club in Liverpool

Apple Records, the studio owned by the Beatles toward the end of their career as a group, is also referenced when Jude is trying to draw a green apple, then slices it in half and tries to draw it again, thus producing the two logos of the company.The rooftop concert toward the end of the film is also a reference to the Beatles' rooftop concert atop Apple Records' headquarters, their final public appearance.

Just before Jude goes up to find Lucy gone, when he is talking to JoJo in the street, the background is the same as the cover of 'Abby Road'.When Sadie plays at the Filmore, she is billed as Sadie and the Po Boys, a reference to the Creedence Clearwater Revival album "Willy and the Poor Boys."

During the number "With a Little Help From My Friends," a prominent poster of actress Brigitte Bardot is a reference to John Lennon's life-long obsession with her.When Jeff Beck's instrumental cover of "A Day In The Life" plays, Jude is reading a newspaper - a reference to the lyric, "I read the news today, oh boy."

The number of the building where the rooftop concert takes place is #9. This could be an allusion to the song "Revolution 9" in the White Album.In the middle of "With A Little Help from My Friends", the music changes to a cover version of the song done by Joe Cocker, who makes a cameo appearance in the film. This version was also used as the theme song for the television show "The Wonder Years" (1988).

The character of JoJo is a clear reference to Jimi Hendrix. Jimi moved to New York and that's where his career really began. Also JoJo's guitar playing style is exactly like Hendrix. Also Sadie dresses him up in the purple shirt and bandanna -- one of Jimi's most famous stage customs.Sadie, with her fiery red hair and passionate temper, is a reference to Janis Joplin. Sadie is even seen drinking directly from a Jack Daniels bottle during her downward spiral, an action that Janis did regularly with Southern Comfort. Even Janis' throaty singing voice is used by Sadie in the movie.

While JoJo's character is a reference to Jimi Hendrix, it is also a reference to the Beatle's song "Get Back", particularly the first line "JoJo was a man who thought he was a loner/But he knew it wouldn't last". Release prints were delivered to some theaters with the fake title "Love and Freedom".

As Jude exits the pub at the end of the film there's a (now commonly seen) security video camera pointed at the pub's entrance - something that wouldn't have existed in the era.The "This Is Anfield" sign in Jude's bedroom is the new Liverpool FC badge, used for the club's centenary in 1992.

At the beginning of the "Happiness Is A Warm Gun" sequence, a modern day Merseyrail train can be seen in the distance as Max sings.When Jude is on the beach in the "Blackbird" sequence, the wind turbines in The Mersey Estuary can be seen.

During the Thanksgiving dinner sequence the amount of food on Lucy's plate changes between shots.It appears that Max, in the scene after Jude helps him escape from the other boys on campus, pulls out his cigarettes twice.

In the scene where the white women dance on top of the water and, subsequently, fall in, one of the platforms that a dancer (on the right side of the "v") is standing on is clearly visible, covered and uncovered by the waves.In the first scene where Jude is at home with his mother, he barely spreads butter over a piece of bread and puts it in his mouth. When he turns around, the butter is spread across the entire piece.