Reportedly the film-makers hoped to cast Michael Douglas as Zack to the point that after he passed on the film's original script he was sent a revision which he also passed on. Another actor courted to play Zack: Tom Berenger, purportedly passed on the part due to a scheduling conflict (Berenger did tour Japan in "A Streetcar Named Desire" in the spring of 1981). Harrison Ford, William Hurt and Peter Strauss have also been cited as being unsuccessfully approached to play Zack. According to Arthur Hiller, most actors he approached re starring in "Making Love" advised him not to even consider them. Kate Jackson - who had previously costarred with Ontkean as his wife in the 1972-76 ABC-TV series "The Rookies" - was cast by Hiller as the female lead in "Making Love" on the strength of her performance in the TV movie "Thin Ice" which was previewed for Hiller prior to its 17 February 1981 broadcast. Principal photography for "Making Love" commenced in February 1981 being completed that May auguring the film would be a high-profile summer release: however "Making Love" would not be released for almost a year, a key factor in this delay reportedly being the negative reaction of Marvin Davis the Denver oil tycoon who purchased 20th Century-Fox in April 1981 ("At a private screening of...'Making Love' he...bellows: 'You made a goddamn faggot movie!' and storms out"). "Making Love" would open during the "dump months" of 1982, but 20th Century-Fox hoped to boost the film to hit status, having devised a "three-pronged" advertising campaign costing $5 million - more than half the $8 million cost of making the film: besides being promoted as a "sympathetic view of...'coming out'" to draw gay audiecences, "Making Love" was pitched to the "mainstream audience" as a "'women's film' - Hollywood marketese for 'soap opera'" - and also as a purported cinematic milestone, the latter a tactic to draw "educated young adult males". Opening 12 February 1982, "Making Love" was originally hailed as a hit, earning an inaugural four-day box office tally of $3 million and swiftly expanding its theatre count from 300 venues to 700. However the strong opening of "Making Love" evidently exhausted any potential public interest in the film which would soon prove a costly flop: with a total cost between $13-14 million - including distribution costs and the $5 million advertising campaigns - "Making Love"'s total domestic box office tally would be reported as $6.1 million.