In the DVD commentary, director Clark Gregg said he offered the role of the naked woman at the bathroom plane who caused Victor's addiction to his wife Jennifer Grey. She replied with: "Are you out of your mind?"
The movie was finished 3 days before its screening at Sundance.
Ryan Gosling and Heath Ledger were cast before Sam Rockwell eventually took the role, according to the author Chuck Palahnuik.
Director Michelangelo Antonioni, a close friend of Anjelica Huston's, died during shooting, so in the scene where Huston's character is so sad and absent-minded that she can't speak, Huston didn't have to act much.
Production was originally slated for 2006, but writer/director Clark Gregg was temporarily occupied with a key role on the TV comedy series The New Adventures of Old Christine (2006). By July 2007, Gregg cast actor Sam Rockwell in the lead role, as well as supporting cast members. Production began in the same month in New Jersey. Filming lasted 25 days with a budget of $3.4 million.
Chuck Palahniuk: the author of the book, is the man sitting next to Victor on the plane at the end of the movie.