Trivia

Aaron Eckhart broke his arm while filming a stunt. He never missed a day of work because of it.

Marines from Camp Pendleton helped train the actors for their roles, educating them in the Marine lifestyle. A number of actual marines also appear as extras in the film. To thank them, a sneak preview of the film was shown at Camp Pendleton on March 3rd, 2011.

Aaron Eckhart said, out of all the movies he has made, this was the most fun, yet toughest, one to make. He went on to say that he would love to return for a sequel and would like it to be set in Paris, France.

Jonathan Liebesman wanted the film to be a realistic depiction of what an alien attack might look like, instead of a big showy special effects bonanza. To that effect, he deliberately watched films like La caída del halcón negro (2001) and Rescatando al soldado Ryan (1998).

In an interview, Michelle Rodriguez claimed the extensive physical training required for her role gave her "a great set of abs for Machete (2010)."