Enemy Mine (film) - Production

Production

The film began shooting in April 1984 with Richard Loncraine (Brimstone & Treacle) as director. However, after weeks of shooting in Iceland and Budapest, producers became concerned about a mixture of budget overruns, creative differences and poor quality dailies. Filming was stopped. The studio had already spent $9 million in production costs and had "pay or play" contracts committing an additional $18 million, so executives needed to decide whether to cut losses or go with a new director.

At the same time, Fox changed its upper management and new Chairman, Barry Diller, and head of production, Lawrence Gordon, decided to move ahead with a new director. The studio had faith in the story and actors involved, and hired Wolfgang Petersen to take over as director. Petersen did not like any of Loncraine's work and opted to start anew, scouting locations along the African coast. Stars Quaid and Gossett remained on during the duration of the film's delays and were paid "holding" money. He moved the production from Budapest to Munich and the studio he used for Das Boot.

Large sets were constructed, including a man-made lake, and Gossett's Drac makeup was redesigned, taking several months on its own. The film finished shooting seven months after its delay. The film's budget, originally planned at about $17 million rose to $29 million, and ended up costing more than $40 million with marketing costs.