George Clooney turned down a cameo as himself in a segment where he would be shown to be bad at picking up women. His response, reportedly, was "No fucking way"
Stephen Merchant stated that he signed on mainly to be around Halle Berry.
Anton Yelchin originally played a necrophiliac, in a segment called The Apprentice, directed by Steve Baker and Damon Escott. The segment was removed due to the highly offensive subject matter.
Kate Winslet reportedly wanted to do a segment that showcased an ear on her back.
Not screened in advance for critics, because Rouge Pictures was afraid of bad reviews making audiences miss the film. The film was ultimately considered as one of the worst films ever made.
Colin Farrell was originally cast as The Leprechaun.
Trey Parker and Matt Stone were initially set to direct a segment, but they dropped out for disliking the script.
Sam Rockwell was originally attached to reprise his role as Batman in the superhero segment (which was intended to be a sequel to the short film Robin's Big Date (2005)) but pulled out to do Seven Psychopaths (2012) instead.
James Gunn found it so amusing that the producers would object to the title of the song he wrote for "Beezel", even though it remains in the lyrics, that he wrote a series of sardonic emails to the music department claiming the song being titled "That Gay Fucking Cat" was essential to the piece's artistic integrity, and offering a paltry sum of cash in exchange for keeping it. When the music department was not amused, Gunn and composer Tyler Bates then submitted a list of highly offensive, and utterly nonsensical, replacement titles. The song was finally given the title "The Cat Song".
The framing device was initially supposed to involve three teenagers going on a treasure hunt to find the mysterious Movie 43 of the plot and the rest of the segments would be featured as what the characters thought was it but wasn't. The version of the film released in the UK retains this device instead of the 'movie producer' version.
Uma Thurman's character interacts with Batman and Robin in both Batman & Robin (1997) and this film.
Development began at Overture Films. When Overture put the movie into turnaround, Relativity Media picked it up. A few months later, Relativity bought Overture.
Uma Thurman plays Lois Lane in the superheroes sketch. Kate Bosworth, who plays one of the board members in the corporate meeting sketch, played Lois Lane in Superman Returns (2006).
Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Emma Stone, Terrance Howard, Chris Pratt, and Liev Schreiber are actors/actresses that starred or had supporting roles in Marvel Films. From the X-Men franchise you have: Jackman (Wolverine), Berry (Storm), and Schrieber (Sabretooth); From The Amazing Spider-Man films: Stone (Gwen Stacey); From Iron Man (2008): Howard (Colonel Rhodes), and lastly, from Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) Chris Pratt as Star Lord. Two of the directors from this film directed Marvel films as well. James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Brett Ratner (X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)).
Features an incredible cast of actors who have appeared in major roles in superhero movies:
- Emma Stone (The Amazing Spider Man (2012) The Amazing Spider Man 2 (2014))
- Steven Merchant (Wolverine 3 (2017))
- Liev Schrieber (X-Men Origins - Wolverine (2009))
- Seth Macfarlane (Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2007))
- Hugh Jackman (X-Men (2002), X-Men 2 (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), X-Men First Class (2011), X-Men Days of Future Past (2014) and X-Men Apocalypse (2016))
- Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Gaurdians of the Galaxy Vol 2 (2017))
- Kate Bosworth (Superman Returns (2006))
- Uma Thurman (Batman & Robin (1997))
- Bobby Cannavale (Ant Man (2015))
- Leslie Bibb (Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010))
- Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Kick Ass (2010), Kick Ass 2 (2013))
- Chloe Grace Moretz (Kick Ass (2010), Kick Ass 2 (2013))
- Halle Berry (X-Men (2000), X-Men 2 (2003), X-Men The Last Stand (2006), X-Men Days of Future Past (2014))
- Terrence Howard (Iron Man (2008))