In the scene where Johnny Depp bursts in on Maria Bello and Timothy Hutton in the motel, David Koepp wanted Bello and Hutton to look shocked and scared. He made them both lie in the bed for fifteen minutes before Depp rushed in. The production crew set up large speakers that blared static noise when the script called for them to be scared. The lights in the room were also rigged to go on when Johnny Depp opened the door, startling the actors further. No one knew exactly how to act.
John Turturro decided to appear in the movie because his son, a big fan of Stephen King, convinced him to.
Johnny Depp's line, "This is not my beautiful house. This is not my beautiful wife. Anymore.", is taken from the Talking Heads' song "Once in a Lifetime".
According to David Koepp on the DVD commentary track, the footage of the ocean scene during Mort's restless night was extra b-role footage taken from The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997).