The film was partly shot during the 24 Hours of Le Mans car race in June 2002. Event organizers added two cars to the field specifically to accommodate the filming but the production had to hire 6 professional drivers to drive the cars during the actual race.
The character Michael Vaillant started in 1957 as a series of comics by French author Jean Graton, later continued by his son Philippe Graton. It was also adapted into television series and several animated pictures.