FILM · 2009 · USA
(500) Days of Summer
- Directed by
- Marc Webb
- Runtime
- 95 min
- Studio
- Fox Searchlight Pictures, Watermark Pictures, Dune Entertainment III
36 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Nov 2026
Tom, greeting-card writer and hopeless romantic, is caught completely off-guard when his girlfriend, Summer, suddenly dumps him. He reflects on their 500 days together to try to figure out where their love affair went sour, and in doing so, Tom rediscovers his true passions in life.
36 Interesting Facts About (500) Days of Summer
Interesting Facts (28)
- #001
The film's blue-centered color scheme was designed to bring out Zooey Deschanel's eyes.
- #002
During Summer's return to her ice cream-selling job, Tom can be seen waiting in line.
- #003
The studio never considered including the documentary about love in this film, and even went so far as to tell director Marc Webb not to shoot it. The audience's reaction during the first test screening convinced them otherwise.
- #004
Contains a major spoiler — show
Red is deliberately not used in this film, and blue is generally used to represent love or happiness (Tom dancing in the street after summer first arrives, etc.). Red does make one appearance, where a small red origami bird can be seen in Summer's apartment. It finally appears one last time when Tom meets Autumn, whose blouse is red.
- #005
Paul says "humjob" instead of "blowjob" to avoid an R rating.
- #006
The black-and-white films Tom watches at the cinema are parodies of films directed by Ingmar Bergman.
- #007
In the original screenplay, Summer was depicted as having cut her hair short and blonde to create a more summer-like personality.
- #008
The documentary about love was actually much longer and included the views of Summer, Rachel, Millie and Tom's mother.
- #009
The screenplay for this film appeared on the 2006 Black List, a list of the year's "most liked" unproduced screenplays.
- #010
Ian Reed Kesler, who fights with Joseph Gordon-Levitt at the bar, is listed in the credits as "an actual douche."
- #011
During the office party, Summer and Tom begin talking about the validity of love. During the conversation, Summer mentions Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's "The Sorrows of Young Werther." When the idea of Tom singing comes up, Summer says: "I nominate young Werther here."
- #012
On the screens showing the number of days in the relationship, the coloring and mood of the background image change to reflect the state of the relationship. Good days are brighter, while bad days are darker.
- #013
The New Hampshire greeting card office and Tom's apartment were filmed in the same building.
- #014
The song playing when Summer first comes to Tom's apartment is Jack Penate's "Have I Been a Fool," and its lyrics include the line "A kiss is just a kiss, I think that's what fools say."
- #015
Joseph Gordon-Levitt wears T-shirts for Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" and "Unknown Pleasures," and for The Clash's album "London Calling."
- #016
Tom and Summer love the band Bananafish, which briefly achieved national fame in the 1980s. The band took its name from J. D. Salinger's first "Nine Stories" entry, "A Perfect Day for Bananafish." Zooey Deschanel was named after another Salinger story, "Franny & Zooey."
- #017
The Smiths' "Louder Than Bombs," Jesus & Mary Chain's "Psychocandy," Public Image Ltd.'s "Album," New Order's "Power, Corruption, and Lies" and Pixies' "Doolittle" can be seen in Tom's childhood room.
- #018
Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character says: "It sucks, why is it that pretty girls think they can treat people like crap and get away with it?" In 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), Gordon-Levitt's character says, "You know, just because you're beautiful doesn't mean you can treat people like they don't matter!"
- #019
The cover of Steven Patrick Morrissey's first album, "Viva Hate," can be seen in both Tom's and Summer's childhood rooms.
- #020
The film is set in 2006-2007 (the narrator says at the end of the film that May 23 was a Wednesday. The most recent year in which May 23 fell on a Wednesday was 2007). However, the email message Summer sends Tom on day 303 is dated May 7, 2008.
- #021
The scene in which Tom and Summer play with the furniture in the store is not in the screenplay. In the screenplay, while Tom and Summer are at dinner, Tom makes fun of another couple and Summer describes him as judgmental. The callback moment is similar because she had previously been willing to join Tom in mocking another couple.
- #022
The film was shot while Matthew Gray Gubler (Paul) was on a break from the series Criminal Minds. While filming this movie, Gubler seriously dislocated his leg; not on set, but while dancing in his free time. His injury was severe enough to require him to use a cane for more than six months, and when he returned to the series, his injury was written into the script by having his character, Dr. Spencer Reid, be shot in the leg to explain the continued use of a cane.
- #023
Contains a major spoiler — show
For the Italian version, Summer was renamed Sole ("sun"). The girl Tom meets near the end of the film, Autumn, was renamed Luna ("moon").
- #024
Zooey Deschanel (Summer) has many connections to Simon & Garfunkel; in 500 Days of Summer she cries while watching The Graduate (1967) with Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). The Graduate's famous music was provided by Simon & Garfunkel. At this point in the film, Simon & Garfunkel's Bookends Theme plays in the background. In Almost Famous (2000), Zooey's character gives her little brother a Simon & Garfunkel album.
- #025
When Tom fixes his hair after a night with Summer, a young Han Solo winks at him.
- #026
This was the third time Joseph Gordon-Levitt played a character named Tom. He had previously played Tommy Solomon on 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996) and Tommy Burgess in Stop-Loss (2008).
- #027
This was Vivian Nixon's debut.
- #028
This was the first film Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber wrote that featured Marvel movie actor Clark Gregg (Agent Phil Coulson). They later wrote The Spectacular Now (2013), starring Miles Teller (Reed Richards) and Brie Larson (Carol Danvers), and The Disaster Artist (2017), starring James Franco (Harry Osborn).
Production Story (3)
- #029
Jenny Beckman, the name mentioned at the start of the film, was a real girl who dumped one of the screenwriters, Scott Neustadter. Summer is based on this girl, and the film's screenplay is based on their relationship.
- #030
Jean-Paul Vignon originally narrated the Sweden scene in French. In the final version, Jonas Åkerlund narrates in Swedish.
- #031
A copy of Paul Cezanne's famous "Blue Vase," an important part of Cezanne's influence on Cubism, is in Summer's apartment.
Behind the Scenes (1)
- #032
Contains a major spoiler — show
Matthew Gray Gubler suffered a serious knee injury during filming that required surgery, which was written into his main TV series Criminal Minds at the start of season 5 to explain why he was using crutches.
Characters & Cast (2)
- #033
Tom repeatedly associates the song "She's Like the Wind" with his relationship with Summer. The song was first recorded for Dirty Dancing (1987), in which Jennifer Gray played the "she" sung about by Patrick Swayze. Clark Gregg, who plays Tom's boss in this film, married Gray in 2001.
- #034
Several members of the film's cast and crew later worked on superhero projects. Director Marc Webb went on to direct two Spider-Man films for Sony: The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014). Joseph Gordon-Levitt later appeared in The Dark Knight Rises (2012), and Clark Gregg played Agent Phil Coulson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011), The Avengers (2012) and Captain Marvel (2019), and in the series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013).
Easter Eggs & References (2)
- #035
Around the time the film was released, director Marc Webb made a short video for the Internet referencing a conversation in the film, starring Zooey Deschanel as Sid Vicious and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Nancy Spungen.
- #036
Contains a major spoiler — show
After Tom and Summer break up and Tom leaves the greeting card company, a new employee is shown sitting at his old desk. The employee tells his boss: "What is this, Solitaire?" This can (potentially) be seen as a reference to Summer's preference for being alone.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- Wikipedia
- IMDb
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