After the success of his album "1999", Prince confronted Cavallo and told him he would not renew his contract with him unless he got to star in a studio film. Every studio they had met with rejected the premise of a musician-led film, leading Cavallo to produce the film himself. Prince spent months writing down the basic plot points of the film, and Cavallo commissioned Blinn to write the script. Blinn's original script, titled "Dreams", was much darker. "Reckless" director James Foley was offered to direct the film, but was not interested and instead passed it on to his editor Magnoli, who disliked Blinn's script for lacking "truth", and was then hired to direct and edit after delivering a pitch on the spot to Cavallo.