After Dire Straits' Communiqué Tour ended on 21 December 1979 in London, Mark Knopfler spent the first half of 1980 writing the songs for the band's next album.

Iovine had also worked on Springsteen's Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town albums, and was instrumental in recruiting E-Street Band keyboardist Roy Bittan for the Making Movies sessions.

Dire Straits expanded into a quintet when keyboard player Alan Clark and Californian guitarist Hal Lindes were recruited as full-time group members shortly after the album's release in October 1980.

In 1981, an identically named short film was released on VHS and Beta, as well as screened in some theatrical venues, consisting of three music videos directed by fashion/commercial photographer Lester Bookbinder, for "Romeo and Juliet", "Tunnel of Love" and "Skateaway".

With new group members Alan Clark and Hal Lindes on board, Dire Straits embarked on tours of Europe, North America, and Oceania[5] from October 1980 until July 1981 to promote the album.

The combination of the star's lyrical script, his intense vocal performances and the band's cutting-edge rock & roll soundtrack is breathtaking—everything the first two albums should have been but weren't.