A significant sleeper success, this earned over $50 million from a $3 million budget.
Writer/director Kirk Jones did not have time to cast the role of Father Mulligan before shooting began. On location, he asked gaffer Larry Randall if he would play the part. Randall agreed, and appears in the finished film.
All the cast and crew worked on reduced rates to help the film get made.
The original title of the script was Waking Ned Devine. However, distributors insisted on changing it to Waking Ned as they felt the shorter title was more user friendly. American distributors were the only ones to keep the 'Devine'.
Despite being set in Ireland the film was shot on the Isle of Man, which is a Crown Dependency of the United Kingdom.