The movie was developed at Paramount by the team of Barry Diller, Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg. They all ended leaving the studio before the film was made. Brillstein expected the film to be cancelled. However Paramount's new studio president Ned Tanen greenlit the film. "It was quite a good script, and we had no product," said Tanen. "There was a vacant spot of about six months on our release schedule. When all the geniuses are through, that's as good a reason as any to make a movie."