Hoskins did not have a good time playing the title role in the famously bad $48 million adaptation of the beloved Nintendo game, often describing it as his biggest disappointment. He and co-star John Leguizamo spent much of their time on set getting drunk to relieve the misery, and he was injured several times during production: "Got stabbed four times," he said. "Electrocuted. Broke a finger. Nearly got drowned." Adding to his frustration was the fact that Hoskins had only signed up to the film because of an early script by Porridge creators Dick Clement and Ian la Frenais. Later, after his son asked what he was working on, he discovered that he'd unwittingly agreed to play a video game character.