The movie was adapted from the William Inge play by Daniel Taradash. It was directed by Joshua Logan.
It won Academy Awards for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color and Best Film Editing. It was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Director, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture and Best Picture.
In 1957, a marketing specialist announced that for six weeks he had included subliminal messages in showings of the movie Picnic. The messages supposedly said: "Eat Popcorn, Drink Coca-Cola." He claimed that sales of his products increased from 18 to 57%. He later admitted that his claims were just a marketing trick.
Picnic was remade for television in 1986, starring Gregory Harrison, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Michael Learned, Rue McClanahan and Dick Van Patten. It was directed by Marshall W. Mason. It was again remade for television in 2000, starring Bonnie Bedelia, Josh Brolin, Gretchen Mol, Jay O. Sanders and Mary Steenburgen. The screenplay was adapted by Shelley Evans, and the movie was directed by Ivan Passer.
Picnic is also a Japanese movie.