Trivia

In a November 2020 interview, George Clooney stated that the case in the film, while about a completely different industry, was based on the Ford Pinto case, where it wasn't that Ford had a car that was unsafe, but that an internal memo showed that they had calculated the cost of recall versus the individual suits from people being killed in the car, and determined it was cheaper to pay off claims and not do the recall.

Denzel Washington turned down the title role, saying he was skeptical of working with a first-time director. George Clooney also originally turned it down for the same reason. Clooney later met Tony Gilroy, realized that they were both on the same page two hours into the meeting, and agreed to star. Washington said that he regretted his decision after seeing the movie.

Committed to a fully developed back story, director Tony Gilroy spent a good deal of time establishing the details of "Realm and Conquest" with production designer Kevin Thompson. Gilroy explained that right from the beginning, he knew "Realm and Conquest" was going to be a key prop. In the movie, it's a metaphor for truth and justice. To create the details of the fictional novel, Thompson generated original visuals inspired by German Expressionistic images cut from wood blocks, and Tony Gilroy wrote the first two pages for three chapters of the book. They even designed a "Realm and Conquest" card game for a scene between Henry and Michael. Thompson said, "This detail was important to Tony because, in his own life, novels and games similar to 'Realm and Conquest' allow him to connect with his son in a meaningful way."

Early on in the process of making this film, director Tony Gilroy secured Sydney Pollack as one of the producers. Gilroy said in an interview, regarding Pollack, "He read the script and wanted to direct it himself, and I told him I was saving it for me."

All the scenes with Jennifer Ehle as Michael's girlfriend were cut. One is included in the deleted scenes feature of the DVD release.