Mickey Rourke plays an Aryan Brotherhood gang leader
Initially, Patrick Kilpatrick had a much longer monologue in his first scene with Laouni Mouhid where he bullies him and uses references to the rift between the U.S. and France to insult him. However, director Aziz Tazi found that it slowed down the pacing of the movie so he decided to cut it. It can be found as a deleted scene in the DVD/Bluray.
According to the Director's Commentary track, the story where Frank goes to a bar that plays no music but simply has people approaching each other to speak foreign languages is inspired by Aziz Tazi's personal experience. When he lived in Paris, France, he went to several so-called "polyglot meetings" where people would practice foreign languages by simply walking up to strangers and approaching them in a different language.
The opening scene features Sarah running away from the police in an unidentified Arab country. Though it was mostly shot at the Oudaya Gardens in Rabat, Morocco, some pickup shots were needed after filming was done. The production had to recreate those in Los Angeles, CA.
The location of the prison factory was found by chance only a few days before filming was set to begin. Director Aziz Tazi was on his way to scout a different location when he got lost in downtown Los Angeles and stopped to ask for directions. He stumbled upon a textile factory that he thought was the perfect location for the shoot.