[5] It was based on the 1984 book of the same title by Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward, and adapted for the screen by Buckaroo Banzai creator Earl Mac Rauch.

John goes into deep sleep after taking a shot, which leads his wife Judy, and friend and actor Dan Aykroyd, to wake him up and discuss how much money he is spending on cocaine.

The movie ends with John Belushi as Joe Cocker singing "You Are So Beautiful" on SNL as the title "Wired" forms over the scene.

Belushi's widow, Judith, and his manager, Bernie Brillstein, asked Bob Woodward to write a factual book about the actor to counter the speculation and rumors that had arisen after his death.

Although Woodward secured interviews with Belushi's family, friends and associates, he neither requested nor received approval from Judith before submitting his manuscript for publication.

Nevertheless, Wired became a bestseller, albeit one that Belushi's family and friends publicly criticized for sensationalism and for what they perceived to be a negative and one-sided portrait of the actor.

[8] Woodward sought to sell the book's film rights as early as 1984—the year it was published—but he found little interest in Hollywood for the project.

Then aged 25, Chiklis heard about auditions for the part when he was weeks away from picking up his theatre arts degree at Boston University: "I rushed down to try out...

Other difficulties for the filmmakers during production included their inability to obtain the rights to Belushi's original Saturday Night Live skits, and so they were forced to write imitations, e.g. "Samurai Baseball."

Belushi's Saturday Night Live co-stars Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner and Laraine Newman are referred to but not seen.

An obvious portrait is made of SNL producer Lorne Michaels, played by actor Joe Urla, although the role is listed as "Stage Manager".

He accused Hollywood powerbroker Michael Ovitz—whose Creative Artists Agency had represented Belushi, as well as Aykroyd and Bill Murray—of using his influence to sabotage the production and distribution of Wired.

Some studio executives claimed that their reluctance to distribute Wired was due to the film's dubious quality, rather than its subject matter.

Brillstein accused the filmmakers of generating the controversy around the film themselves, in an attempt to improve its commercial prospects: "The only thing that the producers have to hang on to is the image of Wired as "the movie that Hollywood tried to stop"...

"[9] In April 1989, the Los Angeles Times published the article "Another Chapter in the Strange Odyssey of Wired," vividly chronicling the obstacles the film faced throughout its production.

[14] Jack Mathews of the Times wrote that while Wired was "one of the most anticipated films in the festival", by the end a "smattering of applause was drowned out by whistles and jeers."

The site's critics' consensus states: "A tasteless unintentional parody of the life it attempts to dramatize, Wired butchers John Belushi's memory with a misguided screenplay and unnecessary recreations of classic performances.

Maltin noted that Michael Chiklis "looks a little like Belushi but conveys none of his comic genius in some clumsy Saturday Night Live recreations" and that J. T. Walsh, "as Woodward, is an unintentional howl with the decade's most constipated performance.

"[18] Writing for The Washington Post, Rita Kempley dismissed the film as "the silliest celebrity bio since Mommie Dearest" and "a biography without an ounce of soul or a shred of dignity.

"[19] Also writing for The Washington Post, Desson Howe wondered if the film is "what the real Belushi's family, friends and fans really need.

"[20] Roger Hurlburt of the Sun-Sentinel also gave Wired a 1½-star rating, writing that "we have director Larry Peerce thinking he's Frank Capra doing It's a Wonderful Life, or worse, Charles Dickens reworking A Christmas Carol... As a film that relies on mystical scenes to join together fact, plus appearing and disappearing characters scattered among confusing time sequences, Wired is a movie of overkill.

And no matter how much Michael Chiklis, the star of Wired, resembles Belushi, his Killer Bee and his Joe Cocker imitation are no match for the highly visible, memorable, syndicated originals.

"[20] Rolling Stone labeled the film "a howling dog...Whether by design or by forced compromise, Wired is even more of a gloss than the candy-assed view of Jerry Lee Lewis in Great Balls of Fire!.

Had the filmmakers succeeded, they would have reinvented the biopic by injecting it with vast ocean of gallows humor, magic realism, and postmodern mindfuckery.

"[25] Roger Ebert for the Chicago Sun-Times wrote that "Maybe there was no way to make a good movie out of this material, not yet, when everyone remembers Belushi and any actor who attempts to play him is sure to suffer by comparison."

Walsh reportedly worked for two days on Loose Cannons before he was fired and replaced with Paul Koslo, causing the film a $125,000 production delay.

[28] Two years after the release of Wired, Judith Belushi wrote her book Samurai Widow (1991) to counter the image of her late husband portrayed in Woodward's work.

Judith told Entertainment Weekly in 2013, "Like Michael Chiklis said, when he was a young man and was offered that role in [Wired], he thought it was a great opportunity and it was.

"[29] Prior to the release of Wired, Patricia O'Haire of the New York Daily News suggested that Chiklis might be "priced out of reach" (i.e. by the film's success).

[30] After numerous guest roles in episodic television (including Miami Vice, L.A. Law, Murphy Brown, and Seinfeld), Chiklis gained fame for portraying the lead roles of Commissioner Tony Scali on the ABC police drama The Commish (1991–1996), and LAPD Detective Vic Mackey on the FX police drama The Shield (2002–2008).