In a 2011 interview, John Carpenter stated he was intentionally trying to make Ghosts Of Mars as over-the-top and tongue-in-cheek as possible. He claimed he was trying to make a mindless and silly, yet highly entertaining and thrilling, action flick where "the universe allows its characters and plot points to be silly without being full-fledged comedies", akin to 80's movies like Commando (1985), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), and Predator (1987). Looking back on the film and its criticism, he stated he was frustrated that most people thought the film was meant to be a serious horror movie, and feels that he should've made the film more openly comedic and "in on the joke", saying "...it's called Ghosts Of Mars for Christ's sake, why would people take this movie seriously?"
John Carpenter revealed that he had become burnt out after he had made this film and made the decision of leaving Hollywood for good. It would not be until nine years later that he made a full feature film, which was The Ward (2010).
Filmed entirely at night.
Much of the location shooting was done on a gypsum mine near Albuquerque, New Mexico. The gypsum, which is almost pure white, was sprayed with a biodegradable red food dye to give the appearance of a Martian landscape.
Jason Statham was originally hired to play James "Desolation" Williams, but was replaced by Ice Cube for star power.