Peter Stone, the writer of Charade (1963) (the basis for the movie) was so against this remake, that in some releases of this movie, his screenwriting credit was changed to Peter Joshua, the name of Cary Grant's character in Charade.
The stamps referenced in the movie were all made up, unlike Charade (1963) which referred to real stamps.
The part of Joshua Peters was originally intended for Will Smith, but due to the extended production on Ali (2001), he was unable to make the start of filming on Charlie, so Demme had to move forward with Mark Wahlberg instead, losing the Thandiwe Newton and Will Smith "double-act" he had imagined watching the original movie Charade (1963).
The movie contains numerous connections to French New Wave films. Reference is made to Tirez sur le pianiste (1960) and its star, Charles Aznavour, has a singing role at the end of this movie. Anna Karina, featured in several Jean-Luc Godard films, has a bit part.