Warner Brothers had, at one point, the opportunity to make both this movie and Forrest Gump (1994) but ended up with neither because of concerns they were too similar. Peter Guber and Jon Peters' production company, which had picked up the script for this movie, had a first look deal with the studio. However, Roger Birnbaum, an executive with the production company, felt that because Warner Brothers was also developing Forrest Gump (1994), they would likely let this movie die if they were to pick it up, because of the script's perceived similarity. So, reportedly, he purposely gave a weak pitch to the studio in the hopes that they would reject it and allow it to be pitched to another studio. This did in fact occur, and United Artists ended up making the film. After the movie's enormous success, Warner Brothers decided to pass on Forrest Gump (1994), because they felt that audiences would be unlikely to go to a movie with such a similar theme as this movie. Forrest Gump (1994), which most people would consider to be an entirely different type of film than this movie, ended up being made by Paramount Pictures and became one of the most successful movies of all time, grossing just over $330 million in the U.S.