Adrian Lyne had previously been offered to direct the film, but turned it down in order to helm the remake of Lolita. He said that years later a New Line executive stated that Figgis was allowed to alter the script because the director had just scored a major success with his film Leaving Las Vegas, while Eszterhas' notorious Showgirls had flopped at the box office. In his memoir Hollywood Animal, Eszterhas stated that at first he could not understand why New Line, the company who produced the film, would risk alienating a screenwriter whom they had paid a record amount of money to, by allowing the director to rewrite the screenplay.

Joe Eszterhas was paid a record $4 million for his script, which was later rewritten by director Mike Figgis. Facing Karen sends Max into an emotional tailspin, and he realizes that he must tell Mimi the truth about his indiscretion. Max meets Charlie's brother Vernon (Kyle MacLachlan) and is introduced to his new wife-Karen. A year later, Max and Mimi fly to New York to visit his close friend Charlie (Robert Downey, Jr.), who is near death from AIDS. When he returns home, Max seems distant and unhappy, though Mimi can't tell why and Max won't say. While visiting New York City, Max meets Karen (Nastassja Kinski) by chance after missing a flight circumstances keep bringing them together over the course of the evening, and they end up spending the night together. Max lives in Los Angeles, where he has a successful career directing television commercials and is happily married to Mimi (Ming-Na), with whom he has two children. The film is narrated by Max Carlyle (Wesley Snipes).

One night stand 1997