The film was inspired by "Trumbo: Red, White and Blacklisted," a play compiled from Dalton Trumbo's letters by his son, Christopher Trumbo. The play opened off-Broadway in 2003, with Nathan Lane, also in the film, as Trumbo and directed by Peter Askin, who directed the film. One of the actors who stepped in was Brian Dennehy, also in the film, who then toured the show nationally.