Question
Name the movie: "Houston, we have a problem"

Name the movie: "Houston, we have a problem"

Last updated: June 30, 2025

You know that moment when your computer crashes right before a big presentation and you dramatically announce "Houston, we have a problem" to your empty office? Yeah, you're not alone. That phrase has become everyone's go-to way of saying things have gone wrong, from kitchen disasters to Wi-Fi outages. What movie turned this into the most overused quote in modern history?

Correct Answer: Apollo 13

(Source)

Ron Howard's "Apollo 13" gave us the line everyone knows, even though the real astronauts never actually said it that way. When Jack Swigert's voice crackled over the radio from 200,000 miles away in April 1970, he said "Houston, we've had a problem." Screenwriter William Broyles Jr. thought past tense sounded too boring for a sci-fi movie, so he changed it to present tense for more drama. The movie turned this tweaked quote into one of the most recognizable lines in cinema history, ranking #50 on the American Film Institute's list of top movie quotes, which means millions of people have been misquoting one of NASA's most terrifying real-life moments for decades.

Share This Trivia

Want More Nostalgia?

Check out our other quizzes and random trivia questions!