Ton Roosendaal announced the movie in May 2009. He is the chairman of the Blender Foundation. The Blender Foundation and the Netherlands Film Fund paid for part of the project. The Foundation raised a lot of their funds by selling pre-orders of the DVD. Everyone who preordered before September 1 has his or her name listed in the movie's credits. The movie was released for download on the Official Durian Project website on October 1, 2010.