This film marks the last leading role for Chris Farley who died five months before the film released. However it is not his last film appearance as he had a cameo for the film Dirty Work (1998) released later that same year.
Film critic Gene Siskel had a passionate dislike for Chris Farley and his starring vehicle Black Sheep (1996) was one of only three films he walked out on in 30 years of reviewing films. Since this film was released five months after Farley's death, he and his partner Roger Ebert were prevented from reviewing it and Dirty Work (1998) in which Farley had a cameo, released the following month after this film out of respect for Farley's family and friends in the entertainment business who were grieving over his passing. They felt his review and comments about Farley would be negative and they were not emotionally prepared to deal with this in light of his untimely death. Ebert on the other hand liked Farley's work on Saturday Night Live (1975), and felt that Farley had just not found the right film script worthy of his talent and felt Farley had potential in movies if he was given the right screenplay.
Filmed in fall 1996 under the title "Edwards & Hunt." It was originally intended for release in summer 1997, but was delayed for a year due to a merger between Turner Broadcasting (which bankrolled this film) and Time Warner.
Elias, the shop owner that Bartholomew Hunt goes to for a bath, a shave, and a tooth removal, is loosely based on Charles Willson Peale, a painter from colonial times who also practiced taxidermy and dentistry.
The ship that the group starts their voyage in is the same ship captained by Russell Crowe in Master and Commander: The Far Side Of The World (2003).