The first film nominated for both the Golden Globe for Best Picture and the Razzie Award for Worst Picture.
The movie has a 7% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the worst-reviewed film nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture. The previous record holder was The Tourist (2010), at 21%.
Upon the trailer's release, Sia was criticized for casting Maddie Ziegler as an autistic character, and for impulsively defending the casting choice on Twitter. In response to the controversies, Sia stated, "I have to admit to being ableist to a degree; I mean, I'm not proud of it .... I have to admit I'm a little bit ableist, and also I view her (Maddie) as--she's like a daughter to me, so I'm also nepotist .... I know that there's a lot of things that I would like to be better about myself, and I think that I got prickly because it had only been a one minute teaser that had been put out, and I broke a couple of rules; I tweeted after midnight, and I also was a little bit facetious and I think I hurt someone's feelings. I was really trying to be cheeky, but it was a bit of an asshole thing to say to someone who was saying 'Well, I could have played that role' and I just said 'Well maybe you're not just a very good actor' ... I've learned my lesson, I wish I never really said anything to be honest, but although if I hadn't I wouldn't have learned so much."
This is the second film in Razzie history to win every nomination except Worst Picture, after The Blair Witch Project (1999).
The film was originally written as a non-musical drama. Sia chose to write music for it when producers offered her an additional $10 million.