Jamie Lee Curtis considers the film a thank you note to her fans. She stated that "Without that early career, I truly don't think I would have been an actor."
During the scene where Norma is leaving, she stands in front of the car from Psycho (1960). The music playing in the background at this part is also from Psycho. Janet Leigh, who plays Norma, played Marion in Psycho. The license plate on the car is also the same as the second car Marion buys in Psycho, NFB 418, which are Norman Bates's initials and lastly, Norma is the first name of Norman Bates's mother from Psycho.
John Carpenter was originally in negotiations to be the director since Jamie Lee Curtis wanted to reunite the cast and crew of the original. It was believed that Carpenter opted out because he wanted no active part in the sequel, however, this is not the case. He had agreed to direct the movie but his starting fee as director was $10 million and he wanted a three-picture deal with Dimension Films. Carpenter rationalized this by saying the hefty fee was compensation for revenue he never received from the original Halloween (1978), a matter that was still a point of contention between Carpenter and producer Moustapha Akkad even after twenty years had passed. When Akkad and Dimension Film's Weinstein brothers balked at Carpenter's demands, he walked away from the project.
Jamie Lee Curtis recalls Josh Hartnett being someone who wanted to be an actor but didn't want the trappings of stardom. He would wear a knit beanie on set at all times, remove it to film a scene, and then immediately return it to his head as a way of retaining his personality. "I respected him for it. It was annoying, but I respected him for it."