Jake Johnson has stated in interviews that the inspiration for the movie's plot were various Japanese game shows with extreme premises that he watched in his youth.
In a 2024 interview with Above the Line, Jake Johnson spoke about changing the movie after screening it at SXSW: "So we made the movie, we put it up and it got a really warm response and audiences seemed to really like it. Hulu came in and was very excited to buy it. I felt like I'd learned so much about the movie in terms of seeing it in front of that audience, so I added a couple of scenes in the third act. I added a little bit more levity. The editor, Ryan Brown, and I went back and just reworked some scenes, made some tweaks, and I think the movie is way stronger. We put it in front of new audiences and the response has been way greater. What I really love about making a movie is that it doesn't have to be over until it's over. And MRC, which were such excellent partners, and Hulu and Party Over Here, when I asked to do reshoots, it costs money, and we had already sold. But Akiva Schaffer and Andy Samberg were instantly on my team pushing to help. The director of Jury Duty (2023), Jake Szymanski, when I told him, he said, 'Just don't quit. Keep pushing. That's the director's job.' It feels like a really great honor to now have this version of the movie out. Even though I love the SXSW version, it just feels like it took a big jump forward."
The motel scene was filmed at the Hollywood Premiere Motel, which was the same motel used in Fargo (2014) and Twin Peaks (2017).
Writer/Director Jake Johnson first pitched the idea for a show in which "if you lose, you die" in 2017.
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