The role of Vanessa was originally much smaller in the initial script, but Director John Ottman liked the character so much, along with the casting choice of Eva Mendes, that he expanded her role.
A picture of Professor Solomon's (Hart Bochner) parents is seen on his desk. The picture is of Director John Ottman's parents.
The opening sequence in the film was originally supposed to take place on a boat. During a location scout, they found the airplane set, and decided to revise the script. As it turns out, the original boat sequence was originally inspired by the airplane sequence in Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983).
Since the campus used as Alpine University in the film didn't have an actual bell tower, a one hundred fifty foot tower was built at an estimated one hundred fifty thousand dollars. All of the interiors were done on a separate stage and the bell was papier-mâché.