Motolla told Uproxx he accepted an offer from Miramax CEO Bill Block, who said he could fully finance the movie if production were limited to 27 days.

“So, basically, what we did is Jon gave back 60 percent of his salary to the budget,” Mottola told Uproxx.

Mottola told Uproxx he wanted to make a “comedy of manners — very talky, verbal comedy” as opposed to slapstick.

Mottola ultimately accepted the one and only major studio offer on the table and “really did make the movie I wanted to make” with $20 million ― thanks in part to Hamm’s generosity