Interior sound-stage studio sets in Montreal, Québec, Canada were built in an abandoned steel plant. This was a site which was already marked for demolition as it was scheduled for re-development as a condominium.
The film is a modern urban legend contemporary take on Edgar Rice Burrough's ''Tarzan'' story.
First starring role in a theatrical feature film of actor Rob Knepper.
''Wild Thing'' was not the first genre movie penned by indie film director John Sayles. He had previously written 'Piranha', 'Alligator', 'The Challenge', 'The Lady in Red' and 'Battle Beyond the Stars'.
In an early scene, Robert Davi's character is shown reading a GQ magazine with Arnold Schwarzenegger on the cover. Davi co-starred opposite Schwarzenegger in Le Contrat (1986).