The picture was completed in 1981 but wasn't widely released theatrically until two years later in 1983. In between, the movie had a limited release stateside in April 1982.
A fourth segment was made for the film by Henry Jaglom, a disaster movie parody called "The Bomb" starring Kenneth Mars, Allen Garfield, and Marcia Strassman. Images from the segment appeared in press materials, but it was deleted from the finished film.
The original title was "National Lampoon's Goes to the Movies". Despite the opening title card for the name of the movie stating 'Movie Madness', right at the start of the opening credits roll, there is still a close-up of a glossy colour card booklet which has the wording "National Lampoon's Goes to the Movies" on the front cover. This lingers for quite a number of seconds and very much outlasts the amount of time that the title card for the film's title ''Movie Madness'' is displayed for.
First and final theatrical feature film directed by independent director Henry Jaglom for a major Hollywood / American movie studio.
Although a critical failure and commercial disaster at the box-office, this movie does still fit National Lampoons style of anthology skit-like comedy from before they started getting into making movies for the cinema.