[2] The project is in tribute to Franco's favorite actor, River Phoenix.

Franco called My Own Private Idaho one of his favorite movies and praised River's performance as the actor's best.

Van Sant admired Franco's appreciation for the film, while Van Sant enticed Franco to give him a tour of the film's locations in Portland, Oregon.

Franco expressed his wish to Van Sant to access the outtake footage for the original film.

About the unseen footage, Franco stated, “I edited the film as I imagined Gus might have if he made My Own Private Idaho today,” In an interview in February, 2012, Franco suggested that the film was unlikely to be released on DVD or Blu-ray, joking that "New Line doesn't want us to compete with the original either.