Topher Grace revealed that the heavy drug use in the film caused the delayed release. Grace and director Michael Dowse wanted to "do something that felt like it was literally made in the 1980s" and not a parody of that generation. Grace believed it wouldn't be the '80s without heavy cocaine use, so there was "real hesitation" on part of the studios. The film ended up sitting on the shelf until Ron Howard and Brian Grazer of Imagine Entertainment came to the rescue. According to Grace, they even ended up "putting stuff back" in the film, rather than having to cut.
Being a big fan of Terminator (1984) and Aliens, le retour (1986), Topher Grace personally called Michael Biehn and offered him the role of his father.
The movie took four years to be released.
There was an extra in the party scenes with Tourette's syndrome who would frequently shout "Cut!" while filming scenes. Topher Grace said it happened at least five times.
In the film, Matt works at the Suncoast Motion Picture Company video retail store. During high school, Topher Grace did, in fact, work at a Suncoast store.