The film was released on 2,160 screens and grossed a total of over $690,000 against a budget of $40,000,000. It had the lowest per-theater gross on its opening weekend of any wide release in American film history, breaking the record set by The Ten Commandments (2007). The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure (2012) broke Delgo's opening-weekend record.
Conan O'Brien used clips of the film which he had redubbed as part of his opening monologues. The characters would discuss sub-prime mortgages and house foreclosures.
The production spanned more than six years.
Anne Bancroft's final film. Laura Citron, spokeswoman for Macquarium and Fathom Studios, said that Melissa McBride was a voice double for the late Ms. Bancroft in limited sequences to ensure completion of the film.