The movie was first announced in 2010 with James Franco as Ricky Stanicky. As a result of scheduling conflicts, Franco dropped and the role went to Joaquin Phoenix. The shooting kept getting delayed and, in 2013, Phoenix dropped off the movie, and the role went to Jim Carrey. Carrey waited for a full year for the production to start; then he dropped off, and the role went to Nicolas Cage in 2015. Cage thought the role was an opportunity to remind viewers of his comedy chops, but at that time international financiers asked for action elements to be added to the film as it would be sold as a Nicolas Cage movie. Their request was denied. The project stopped until 2021 when Zac Efron and Amazon became interested in the script. Finally, John Cena was cast as Ricky Stanicky.

When the duck comes out of the water after pulling Paul the dog into pond (around 31 minutes) and sits on the golf ball, the film is reversed to make it look as if it is lowering onto it while, in fact, it is actually raising up off of the golf ball.

There is a comical scene during the credits which involves William Macy that is worth watching.

Featured in The Project: Episode dated 4 March 2024 (2024)