Fincher intended to make "The Game" before "Seven", but when Brad Pitt became available for "Seven", that project became top priority. The success of "Seven" helped the producers of "The Game" get the larger budget that they wanted. Then, they approached Michael Douglas to star in the film. He was hesitant at first because of concerns that PolyGram was not a big enough company to distribute the film. However, once on board, Douglas' presence helped get the film into production. At the 1996 Cannes Film Festival, PolyGram announced that Jodie Foster would star in the film with Douglas. However, Fincher was uncomfortable with putting an actor and movie star of her stature in a supporting part. After talking to her, he considered rewriting the character of Conrad as Nicholas' daughter so that Foster could play that role. However, Douglas didn't like the idea and requested it to change the character to his sister, which Foster found peculiar as Douglas is almost 20 years her senior and appeared with her in "Napoleon and Samantha" when Foster was 9 years old while Douglas was 28. Due to differences in opinions and scheduling conflicts with Robert Zemeckis' "Contact", Foster could not appear in the film. Once she left, the role of Conrad was offered to Jeff Bridges, but he declined, and Sean Penn was cast. Later, Foster alleged that she and PolyGram orally agreed that she would appear in the film, and when this did not transpire, she took a $54.5 million lawsuit against the company. Deborah Kara Unger's audition for the role of Christine was a test reel consisting of a two-minute sex scene from David Cronenberg's "Crash". Douglas thought it was a joke, but when he and Fincher met her in person, they were impressed by her acting.