Jump! (film)/Development and Production

Van Halen had seen success with "Jump" hitting number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1983. RKO Pictures' then-head Marco Diéguez felt that giving them a movie deal was the next biggest thing, so he contacted the band's management and Warner Bros. Records, and formulated a plan to cast the band as coming-of-age high schoolers. The band agreed, and the film soon began to take shape.

Filming for Jump! began in February 1983, and it was an American-Italian co-production between RKO General division Corner Pictures and Italian film studio Filmauro S.r.l. alongside Warner Bros. Records (under a "Burbank Talent Scouting and Filmworks" credit) and New World Pictures. The director was Lucio Fulci, known primarily for his gore films. Most of the movie was filmed at St. Bernard's Central Catholic High School in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, with some filming taking place in the Greater Boston area and in Santa Rosa, California.

Prior to completing the script, director Fulci and screenwriter Leo Jackson spent time with each Van Halen member, in an effort to get a feel for how they each acted and spoke. Michael Anthony, the band's bassist, said little to the pair but "Yeah." As a result, Anthony was not originally given any lines, except to interject "Yeah." at various points. In the first draft of the script, Anthony was described as "monosyllabic and bored. Communicating largely through gestures and sounds, Michael might be best described as an gothic Paul McCartney." Upon learning of his lack of dialogue, Anthony threatened to leave the project. Soon after, lines were written for him.

The concert depicted in the film was recorded at Snoopy's Home Ice in Santa Rosa, California on February 29, 1983, in front of a crowd of 3,564 people. Tickets for the concert were sold at San Francisco Bay Area locations of Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre with the purchase of a large cheese pizza or pitcher of soft drink. The group performed a full concert, which was followed by lip-synched performances of some songs.

On a few occasions, Eddie Van Halen left the set during filming due to arguments with the film's director. In one scene that Eddie abandoned, his teenage stunt double can be clearly seen instead.