The story that George tells at the party about meeting the queen in the locker room, is the real story about Spanish soccer player Carles Puyol. He met the queen of Spain when he came out of the shower after winning the world championship semi-finals.
Director Gabriele Muccino publicly disowned this movie, citing studio interference and a troubled relation with Gerard Butler.
Was originally announced as "Confessions of a Little League Coach" in 2004. Writer Robbie Fox came up with the idea that year based on his experience coaching his son's Little League team and being hit on by other team member's moms. He pitched it to Jonathan Mostow, who was also the team's assistant coach. Mostow loved it, and signed on to produce and direct after it was bought by Columbia Pictures. Development stalled for years, and after being financed independently and retitled "Slide", in 2010, it was changed from being about baseball to soccer to broaden appeal for international audiences, and retitled "Playing the Field". Mostow stayed on as producer. It was retitled again before its release to "Playing for Keeps".
Dennis Quaid and Catherine Zeta-Jones had previously co-starred in the Oscar-winning film "Traffic" (2000).
Sean O'Bryan, who plays Gerald Butler's assistant coach, appeared with Butler in Olympus Has Fallen.