Much of the film was shot without permission, including the scene where Mike and Trent pull over just outside Vegas. LVPD officers showed up and demanded to see a permit, a permit director Doug Liman didn’t have. While the assistant director stalled the police, the scene was shot while everyone involved pretended not to be filming and the actor’s not acting.
Jon Favreau wrote the script in just 10 days; ‘comedic therapy’, as he called it, after breaking up with his girlfriend.
To get permission to use the Jaws theme, Doug Liman sent a copy of the film to director Steven Spielberg. The legendary director cast Vince Vaughan for The Lost World: Jurassic Park after viewing the film, having never heard of him before.
Jon Favreau’s grandmother cameos in the film as the $5 Winner in Las Vegas. Vince Vaughan’s father, Vernon, also appears as the ‘$100 Gambler’.
The answering machine scene, where Mike leaves a long rambling message on a woman’s answer machine he has just met at a bar, is based on a similar story told by Curb Your Enthusiasm star Jeff Garlin during his one-man show I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With. In Jeff’s (original) version, he tells of leaving a declaration of love on a woman’s answer machine, only for her to play it in the company of 12 other people (including Garlin). The movie adaptation of I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With was made in 2006, with the answer phone story left out.
The iconic line ‘you’re so money’ comes from a Spike Lee Air Jordan commercial. The bombastic director refers to Michale Jordan as ‘money’ throughout the TV spot, and Favreau incorporated it into his script.
CURSE COUNT:
Fuck – 95 times.
Bitch – 31 times.
Asshole – 13 times.
Trent (Vince Vaughan)’s license plate reads ‘THX 138′, a reference to the 1971 George Lucas’ film of the same name.
When Mike (Jon Favreau) opens his fridge for apparently no reason (it’s completely empty), it was due to an instruction by director Doug Liman, who needed more lighting in the scene.
The film is based on Jon Favreau’s experiences when he first moved to LA. Ron Livingston and Vince Vaughan play exaggerated versions of themselves.
The house party scene was shot at an actual house party, and two of the locations then residence were Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen, producers of the of the Twilight films.
The interior and exterior shots of Mike’s apartment are of the actual building Jon Favreau was living in at the time. Adam Scott, from Parks and Recreation, lived below Favreau.
The ‘Bear’ speech is actually something Vinch Vaughan used to say to Jon Favreau on nights out together.
The five members of the group (Trent, Mikey, Sue, Rob, and Charles) represent the members of the original Rat Pack (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, Joey Bishop, and Sammy Davis Jr.)
The Reservoir Dogs homage was shot at 2am behind a 7-Eleven, and took only 3 takes.
Many of the bars the film shot in were open for normal business, and a sign had to be put during filming, warning bar patrons that if they wandered into a shot they would be considered as unpaid extras.
A live rabbit scene had to be scrapped after the location, the Derby, protested.
