Adam Sandler wrote and was set to release this movie in the mid 1990s, with Chris Farley in the Kevin James role. Farley's death in 1997 halted production plans, and the film was shelved for more than a decade.
Studio executives were not enthused with reports that Salma Hayek would be cast in the film, and in a meeting suggested to Adam Sandler that they continue looking until they could get a "less ethnic" actress in the part. Sandler then told them he'd already offered Hayek the role and she'd accepted, adding that he would not consider re-casting the part and warned them not to bring the subject up again.
After the movie premiered, Adam Sandler bought each of his fellow cast members (Chris Rock, Kevin James, Rob Schneider, and David Spade) a brand new Maserati. Rock appreciated the gift but said it made him feel like "Adam Sandler's bitch".
Kevin James' character, Eric Lamonsoff, was also mentioned in another Adam Sandler movie; The Wedding Singer (1998), as a neighbor of Robbie Hart (Sandler) during the scene where Robbie and Julia are negotiating prices for wedding pictures. The name can also be heard in Click (2006).
Maya Rudolph really was pregnant with her second child during filming of this movie. Production began in June 2009, and Rudolph gave birth in November 2009.