Anne Heche was supposed to appear with Vince Vaughn in A Cool, Dry Place (1998), but bowed out of that film when she unexpectedly landed the lead in Six Days Seven Nights (1998). Return to Paradise is the first of two back-to-back films that Vaughn and Heche did together. After this, they recreated iconic roles in the appalling remake of Psycho (1998). Coincidentally, Vera Farmiga who made her film debut in this, also appeared in a retelling of Psycho with the TV series Bates Motel (2013) as Norman Bates' mother.
Per a February 1998 New York Post article ("Ellen Gal Pal Goes Straight for Co-star"), Vince Vaughn and Anne Heche shared passionate lovemaking sessions inside each others' trailers during breaks in filming. Movie sources said the chemistry between Vaughn and Heche was evident during shooting in exotic locales like Thailand and Macao. On the film's New York set, sources said the pair showed up for work holding hands. And sparks continued to fly off the set. "One night they were dirty dancing at the Redeye Grill," says a source. "They left wrapped around each other tighter than tape on a package."
First and only widely released movie where Anne Heche received above-the-title billing. (She was billed above the title on posters for Six Days Seven Nights (1998), but not in the actual credits of that film.)
Working titles included Long Way to Paradise, All for One and Force Majeure, the title of the 1990 French film of which this is a remake.