Trivia

While Dan Dark (Robert Downey, Jr.) is in Binney's (Jeremy Northam) office, he picks up a statue of a Maltese Falcon.

At one point, David Cronenberg was in line to direct the film, with Al Pacino in the lead.

The opening song was chosen by director Keith Gordon because he liked it so much in Christine (1983), in which he starred.

Robert Downey Jr. was able to return to the big screen after Mel Gibson, who had been a close friend since they both had co-starred in Air America, paid Downey's insurance bond for this 2003 film. Gibson's gamble paved the way for Downey's comeback, and his return to mainstream films in the mid-2000s with Gothika, for which producer Joel Silver withheld 40% of Downey's salary until after production wrapped as insurance against his addictive behavior. Similar clauses became standard in his contracts throughout the 2000s.

Dustin Hoffman was initially attached to the role of Dan Dark when the film was in development.