Movie |
Dark Comedy | Ransom
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Budget 10,000,000 USD
Box Office Collection 72,000,000 USD
Throughout the film, Ben reads several self-help books on parenting. Each book features a photo of the author on the back cover. The author photos are John Ritter in various costumes. This was mirrored in Problem Child 2 (1991) when Lawanda Dumore's photos of previous husbands are all Ritter in costumes.
In 1999, John Ritter married Amy Yasbeck in real life.
During a 2014 interview on Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast, screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski revealed that the story was inspired by the 1988 LA Times article "An Adopted Boy--and Terror Begins." The story is about a married couple suing an adoption agency because they were not informed that their adopted son had severe mental health issues with violent tendencies, and had been previously returned to the agency multiple times. While other writers pitched the story as a horror film in the vein of The Bad Seed (1956) or The Omen (1976), Alexander and Karaszewski thought it had potential as a comedy. They envisioned a dark, adult satire of the then-popular trend of films in which cute kids teach cynical adults how to love, as seen in Baby Boom (1987), Parenthood (1989) (directly spoofed by the film's poster), Look Who's Talking (1989), Uncle Buck (1989), Mr. Mom (1983), Kindergarten Cop (1990) and Three Men and a Baby (1987). The studio insisted on turning it into a children's film, which meant numerous reshoots and rewrites. All involved in the difficult production were disappointed, and anticipated that it would bomb. Alexander cried after the cast and crew screening. The film was a surprise hit, and Universal's most profitable film of 1990. Alexander and Karaszewski were so embarrassed that they tried to distance themselves from the film in its immediate aftermath, which proved difficult. Studios were initially reluctant to hire them or take them seriously based on their work on such a prominent disreputable film. In later years, they eventually came to work with executives who grew up watching the film on TV airings and were excited to be meeting "the guys who wrote Problem Child." Looking back, they still feel the film is "a mess," but take some pride in being involved with one of the "very few [PG-rated] children's films THAT black and THAT crazy," adding "and it's funny."
Jack Warden agreed to be in the film after Dennis Dugan offered him half his net profits (a percentage negotiated beforehand of the net profit to a movie). Warden was so touched by the gesture that he agreed to take the role, but refused to take any of Dugan's potential earnings.
An ad campaign for this film included "reviews" from a number of famous movie villains:"Four-star fun for the whole gang!" - Al Capone"Two thumbs up!" - Captain Hook"10 out of 10! Junior had me in stitches!" - Frankenstein"This kid gives ME nightmares!" - Freddy Krueger"Junior is a real cut-up!" - Leatherface"I wish he were MY son!" - Darth Vader"Don't have a cow! Just see this movie, dude!" --Bart Simpson
