Some interesting trivia:
Reportedly, one of the reasons John Travolta turned the film down was because he wanted final cut approval and director Paul Schrader would not give it to him. Travolta allegedly kept the Armani suits especially tailor made for him in the film. The picture is one of at least four films that Gere has done after Travolta had turned them down, the others being Chicago (2002), Days of Heaven (1978), and An Officer and a Gentleman (1982).
Christopher Reeve and John Travolta were offered the lead role of Julian but both in the end turned it down. Reeve was supposedly offered US $1 million to play the title role. Travolta originally accepted the part then revoked it. Reportedly, according to the 18th June 1979 edition of 'Playgirl' magazine, Reeve was offered a paycheck of US $1 million to play the part of Julian Kay which in the end was cast with Richard Gere. The same reported that Gere's salary on this picture was US $350,00 plus back-end percentage points from the picture's box-office profits. Earlier, the 18th January 1978 edition of 'The Los Angeles Times' had announced that Travolta, when he was attached to the project, would be starring in this film for a salary of US $2 million.
The film is widely credited to have established clothes designer Giorgio Armani in Hollywood, since the Italian designer's clothes are featured prominently in Julian Kaye's wardrobe.
In 2012, star Richard Gere said that he was drawn to the role because of its gay subtext. "I read it and I thought, 'This is a character I don't know very well. I don't own a suit. He speaks languages; I don't speak any languages. There's kind of a gay thing that's flirting through it and I didn't know the gay community at all.' I wanted to immerse myself in all of that and I had literally two weeks. So I just dove in." (LIES!) (LIES!) (LIES!!!)
Chevy Chase, Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone were all considered to play Julian Kaye.
According to Richard Gere, the nudity was not in the original script. "It was just in the natural process of making the movie. I certainly felt vulnerable, but I think it's different for men than women."
According to the 15th April 1979 edition of 'The Los Angeles Times', when attached star John Travolta left the project, the budget for the picture was decreased by about US $3.5 million to US $5.5 million which was down from the earlier US $9 million.
