Before the film was shot, director David Leland assured Joe Eszterhas that he would not change Eszterhas' script in any way. When Eszterhas saw a rough cut of the film, he was angry to discover that new subplots and characters not in the original script had been introduced. Eszterhas initially demanded that his name be taken off the film, but when Leland removed most of what Eszterhas was objecting to, the screenwriter allowed his name to be put back on.