Although she'd starred in three theatrical movies and had made countless TV appearances in the 15-year period prior to this movie, Dame Olivia Newton-John was insecure about her acting abilities and decided to enroll in acting training in preparation for the film (and in fact her character is also part of an acting workshop).
The movie's soundtrack was so successful that it went platinum.
After striking box office gold in Grease (1978), the 20th Century Fox studio re-teamed John Travolta and Dame Olivia Newton-John five years later for this romantic comedy. This was their second and final star teaming.
The movie was part of a 1980s cycle of Hollywood angelic comedies which had started with Heaven Can Wait (1978). The films included that movie and Two of a Kind (1983), The Devil and Max Devlin (1981), Defending Your Life (1991), Oh Heavenly Dog (1980), Kiss Me Goodbye (1982), The Heavenly Kid (1985), Made in Heaven (1987), Almost an Angel (1990) and Oh, God! (1977) and its two sequels. The phrase "Heaven Can Wait" forms part of the lyrics in Two of a Kind (1983)'s theme song "Twist of Fate" sung by Dame Olivia Newton-John.
One of a string of box-office flops for John Travolta, alongside Moment by Moment (1978), Blow Out (1981), Perfect (1985) and The Experts (1989). Travolta would not score another hit until Look Who's Talking (1989) (although his comeback would occur with Pulp Fiction five years later).