Jet Li came up with the idea to have Aaliyah fight the lady on the motorcyle during the chase scene.
Four years before being cast in this film, Aaliyah was considered for the role of Juliet in Romeo + Julieta (1996) opposite Leonardo DiCaprio. She turned down the role feeling it wasn't the right time for her to break into acting.
Joel Silver gave Jet Li the leading role in this film for his praised performance in Lethal Weapon 4 (1998).
Jet Li said that he agreed to play a bad guy in Lethal Weapon 4 so that he can play the hero in his next American film, which the director promised to have him do a lot more action scenes.