Isaac Asimov was never consulted in the making of the film based on his short story, and completely disowned the finished film when it was released.
Nightfall was the short story which helped establish Isaac Asimov's reputation when it was published in 1941. Julie Corman became aware of it in 1979 when she read a review of an Asimov anthology in the New York Times. She was attracted by a story "about people who have recognizable moral dilemmas," and bought the screen rights. Roger Corman announced in 1980 he would make the film with a reported $6 million budget, co producing with a German company.
When Isaac Asimov turned down the chance to adapt the story himself, Julie Corman approached Paul Mayersberg, then best known for writing O Homem Que Caiu na Terra (1976). He passed so she tried a number of different writers. In July 1987 Corman eventually went back to Mayersberg after seeing his directorial debut, Captive (1986). Mayersberg agreed to write the script if he could direct. Corman agreed. Mayersberg wrote the script in five weeks in London and the film was shot over an eight week period in October 1987.
The amount of suns was reduced from six in the short story to three in the movie.
The film was shot in an organic architectural development in Arizona called Arcosanti. Scenes were also shot in Cosanti, just outside Scottsdale, and in the Tonto National Forest. Some Arcosanti residents appeared as extras.