The movie was filmed in 1995, and shelved for five years. The released version was re-edited by Francis Ford Coppola with the consent of director Michael Ritchie.
The original off-Broadway production of "The Fantasticks" opened at the Sullivan Street Playhouse on May 3, 1960, ran for ONLY 17,162 performances closing on Janary 13, 2002. The original cast included Jerry Orbach. A new production opened at the Snapple Theater Center/Jerry Orbach Theater on August 16, 2006 and is still running (June 2010).
The film's running time was 110 minutes before being whittled down to 85 minutes for theatrical release. Many of the deleted scenes are available in the special features section of the 2001 MGM DVD release, and director Michael Ritchie's reassembled original cut can be seen in its entirety on the limited edition 2015 Blu-ray release.
Paramount Pictures owned the rights to this property in the late 1960s. Originally Gower Champion was set to direct with Howard W. Koch producing. During the summer of 1972 Paramount paid for a trip to Italy by Champion and songwriters Schmidt & Jones to scout locations. By January 1973 the film had been called off.
The actors sing live during the shots, while listening to the music on hidden earphones.