Only 80% of the film was shot when River Phoenix died. For the 2012 release, director George Sluizer filled in the remaining scenes by narrating the script himself.
River Phoenix and co-star Judy Davis reportedly disliked each other intensely. In an open Q&A at the 2013 Jerusalem Film Festival, director George Sluizer stated that River had personally asked him to postpone the scenes in which Boy and Buffy were intimate or even had to be close to one another. Due to River's sudden death, those scenes were never shot.
In a 2015 interview with The Guardian, Jonathan Pryce cited this film as the worst job of his career: 'It was a horrible experience even before River Phoenix died. I adored him, but other factors on the production made me never want to act again.'
According to director George Sluizer the unfinished movie was stored in the warehouse of the insurance company until 1999, when they considered destroying the negatives as they were tired of paying storage fees on it. With the help of some associates, Sluizer was able to steal the movie, which he brought to New York and then shipped the 700 kg of footage to Holland, where it went into storage again. It was not until 2012 that Sluizer managed to gather enough money to finish it.
When River Phoenix was first offered the role of Boy in April 1993, there were concerns that his drug addictions were too severe for him to be able to work.