Elsa & Fred (2014), set in New Orleans, is an English-language remake of the 2005 Spanish-Argentinian film of the same name --- Elsa & Fred (2005). The film was shot on location in New Orleans because of tax incentives, according to Shirley MacLaine.
Elsa (Shirley MacLaine) is obsessed with the Federico Fellini's Das süße Leben (1960) and its stars Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg. In reality, MacLaine co-starred with Mastroianni in Die Herbstzeitlosen (1992) and with Ekberg in Der Agentenschreck (1955) and Siebenmal lockt das Weib (1967). MacLaine also starred in Sweet Charity (1969), a musical version of Fellini's Die Nächte der Cabiria (1957).
Elsa & Fred (2014) was the final feature-film appearance of George Segal before he died on March 23, 2021 of complications from bypass surgery. He played the role of John, Fred's (Christopher Plummer) doctor and friend.
The scene in Rome where Shirley MacLaine and Christopher Plummer wade into the Trevi Fountain is shot in black and white, to mimic the corresponding scene in Das süße Leben (1960).
Christopher Plummer declared he does not consider it a remake of the 2005 film, as "Shirley and I, and Michael totally rewrote it. So I prefer to think of it as the English-language version."