Helgeland was in post-production on this film the night of the Academy Awards, and having been nominated for his L.A. Confidential (1997) script he really hoped he would be named the winner. "I knew that they were getting close to finally removing me off this movie," and he thought winning the Oscar would mean they couldn't fire him. He won, Sean Connery tussled his hair backstage while congratulating him, and that was his Sunday night. "And on Tuesday I got fired. So much for the magic of an Academy Award."