production began in january 1987, but new world allowed goldberg to improvise freely on the screenplay. she also replaced torn's chosen dop john alonzo with then-husband conrad hall. torn battled with goldberg and reportedly had to beg her to perform takes that stuck to the script. a year-long struggle then ensued between hawkeye and new world/goldberg over the rights to the final cut. southern and torn put together their own version, which screened at the sundance film festival in january 1988; new world's version premiered in cinemas later that month to generally poor reviews.