Gene Hackman at one point was interested in playing Hoke Moseley while Fred Ward initially wanted to portray Frederick J. Frenger Jr.
A framed photograph of Miami Blues author Charles Willeford can be seen on Hoke Moseley's desk in the police station.
Fred Ward originally wanted Jonathan Demme to direct this film. However, Demme suggested to Ward that George Armitage should both write and direct this movie.
Suzanne Vega was up for the role of Susie Waggoner. She dropped out to make her third album "Days of Open Hand".
According to author Charles Willeford, sometime in the summer of 1987, Robert Altman expressed an interest in adapting 'Sideswipe' (the third book in Miami Detective, Hoke Moseley series) to the big screen.