Terence Winter was very unhappy with the movie, claiming his screenplay is not the one that ended up on screen.
50 Cent hired an acting coach but Jim Sheridan had the woman removed from the set. Sheridan told 50 "If this fails, it won't be because you can't act. It's because I didn't direct you right."
On the 8 November 2005 edition of Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1993), 50 Cent said that this film is "about 75% accurate".
Bono introduced Jim Sheridan to 50 Cent because Sheridan expressed a desire to meet and work with 50.