The character of Luther Lee Boggs developed from "Beyond the Sea" co-writer Glen Morgan wanting to "do a psychic thing." Morgan continued, "You start thinking, well, this guy's got to have something at stake." The intent to jeopardize Boggs led to making him a prisoner on death row. Due to Fox deeming the premise of "Beyond the Sea" as too similar to that of The Silence of the Lambs, Morgan and writing partner James Wong conceived Boggs as "this manic high-strung cracker" rather than the "cool intellectual" of Hannibal Lecter. "I was directly trying not to write Hannibal Lecter," Morgan noted. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 26/27, No. 6/1, p. 42)