Screenwriter Valerio Attanasio said in an interview that the main source of inspiration for the script was La banda degli onesti (1956) by Camillo Mastrocinque starring Totò, a comedy about three decent but clumsy men facing economic difficulties reluctantly who start to fabricate counterfeit bills.
The scene where Pietro Zinni tutors a group of high school students is a homage to a similar scene of Acqua e sapone (1983) in which Carlo Verdone presses his students for lesson payments.
The chemical formula of the drug is MDMA, so in Italy it's illegal.
The screenwriter Valerio Attanasio makes a cameo appearance wearing a tuxedo in the party scene next to actor Libero De Rienzo
Italian censorship visa # 108162 delivered on 4-2-2014.
Valerio Attanasio: The screenwriter, in the swimming pool party scene, talking with Bartolomeo character (played by Libero De Rienzo).