Greenlit after the success of Hopper's previous film "Easy Rider", Universal Pictures gave the director/star complete creative control over the project, which was budgeted at $1 million and was shot on-location in Peru. Hopper only loosely followed the script by Stern, filming hours upon hours of footage built around friends whom he invited to the set, including several of his collaborators Fonda and Basil. The film's elongated post-production came from Hopper's constant editing and re-editing of the film while suffering from the effects of ongoing substance abuse, leading to allegations of self-sabotage and missing the film's initial deadline to deliver a final cut nearly six months later.