The movie was originally shot in France. But when the studio did not like the results, they decided to re-shoot almost the entire movie in San Diego, California. Only a handful of minutes of the original movie shot in France made it to the final cut.
Originally, the chimpanzee was going to be a trained animal rather than played by impersonators. During a session introducing the the actors to the chimpanzee, the animal bit Matthew Modine, was chased and then captured before being immediately destroyed by it's handler.