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The second film in Lars von Trier's third trilogy series entitled "USA - Land of Opportunities". The two other parts are Dogville and Wasington (2009).

John C. Reilly was originally signed to play Dr. Hector but was replaced by Slovenian actor Zeljko Ivanek during production. A donkey was put to death while filming, and it was reported in US magazine Entertainment Weekly that this was what prompted Reilly to walk off the set, though he has never commented publicly on the incident or his exact reasons for leaving the film. The executive producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen told Swedish media that "people should not be upset - instead they should think about the situation of the Third World". Since the movie was filmed in Sweden, they followed Swedish law, which says that animals can be put to death in movie productions if a veterinarian is the one carrying out the killing. Director Lars von Trier later cut the scene from the film, which was attributed to protests from animal rights groups. Von Trier said that he didn't want to draw attention away from the content of the film.

Danny Glover who plays one of the slaves rejected the role once before accepting it.

In an interview with Cigar Aficionado, James Caan stated he did not reprise his role as Grace's father from Dogville because Nicole Kidman dropped out and because he feels Lars von Trier "is very anti-American, so screw him. I'm very pro-America. I'm a conservative, basically."